IND A v AFG A, Tri-series Review: India steamroll Afghanistan for an easy win

After losing their first two games, Afghanistan A had quite a tough task cut out in Pretoria and interestingly, the decided to bowl first against a much more experienced India A team. It didn’t take long for the Afghans to realize that their decision wasn’t a great one as Shreyas Iyer took charge and spanked the new ball all over the ground.

Nevertheless, India didn’t manage to score a lot in the powerplay and lost Karun Nair, who was palpably struggling with his timing. The partnership between Rishabh Pant and Iyer changed the whole course of the match as the duo kept notching runs at a brisk pace. Both being attacking batters, the bowlers had to go through a rough 14 odd overs whilst they were in the middle.

But just when he was closing in on a half-century, Shreyas Iyer departed and in walked the skipper Manish Pandey. Pant brought up his fifty and fell almost immediately, this left India at 150/3 after 28 overs. Pandey proved to be the star of the day for the Indian contingent as he kept attacking right from the outset.

He stitched a crucial partnership with Deepak Hooda first, where both these batters didn’t try anything audacious and kept striking boundaries occasionally. When Hooda walked back after adding 78 for the fourth wicket, Krunal Pandya came in and batted Afghanistan out of the match. He spanked seven fours and one six to score a pivotal 48 off 27 balls which helped the side get close to 300 out of nowhere.

Vijay Shankar came in to thump a couple of sixes in the end and alongside his skipper, they ensured the team finished on 322 for the loss of five wickets. Sharafuddin Ashraf picked up two wickets and gave away just 48 runs in his 10 overs.

Young Indian speedsters too good for the Afghans

Three of the brightest talents that came into the limelight this IPL, Siddharth Kaul, Basil Thampi and Mohammad Siraj, all featured in the bowling line-up. Siraj provided a breakthrough off his very first ball and Afghanistan found it really difficult to cope with him and Kaul with the new ball. Axar Patel provided the second wicket with two balls left in the powerplay.

Younas Ahmadzai tried to combat the tentative situation with some aggressive batting but that backfired after he had scored 28 off 36 balls. Rahmat Shah and Nasir Jamal tried to stick in for some time, but Vijay Shankar sent them back in quick succession to turn the match completely into India’s favor.

Najibullah Zadran and skipper Shafiqullah Shafiq then showed some grit and stitched a crucial partnership in the middle. Though the Indian bowlers kept bowling tight lines, they showed great temperament to stay and score runs. Unfortunately for them, runs didn’t come thick and fast and the required run-rate kept creeping up.

Shafiq lost his cool and gave away his wicket after adding 57 for the sixth wicket. Sharafuddin Ashraf did show off some of his hitting skills but it was too little too late for his side. With Siraj and Kaul cleaning up the lower order, Afghanistan A finished at 209 for the loss of nine wickets.

The Hyderabadi pacer Siraj picked up three wickets whereas Shankar and Kaul finished with crucial braces. India have sealed their place in the summit clash of the Tri-series with two more group matches still left. It will be the hosts South Africa, who will lock horns with Manish Pandey and co. on 8th August at Pretoria.

Brief Scores

India A: 322/5 in 50 overs(Manish Pandey 86*, Rishabh Pant 60, Sharafuddin Ashraf 2/48)

Afghanistan A: 209/9 in 50 overs(Najibullah Zadran 62, Mohammad Siraj 3/49, Siddharth Kaul 2/35)