India A 265 (Shedge 72. Nigam 51, Viyaskanth 3-26, Shiraz 3-33) tied with Sri Lanka A 265 for 9 (Samarawickrama 93, Badoni 2-45) Super Over Sri Lanka A 16 beat India 9
A nerveless Super Over from Kugathas Mathulan, the 19-year-old slinger, helped Sri Lanka A pull off a thrilling win over India A in their tri-series fixture in Dambulla, amid fading light. frayed tempers.
Tasked with defending 16, Mathulan nailed three yorkers to deny Suryansh Shedge and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. India managed just nine runs in their response, thereby losing their second consecutive match. Their upcoming clash against Afghanistan A on Wednesday is now a must-win for India.
The game went into the Super Over. of a belated call from the umpires due to confusion over the playing conditions. There was a delay of more than 10 minutes between the end of regulation time. the start of the Super Over after Tilak Varma, the India A captain, appealed to the umpires to play the Super Over.
By the time the players got back onto the field, the light had faded significantly. The Super Over was then played in murky light that wouldn't have otherwise passed the normal light meter reading.
Even as Sri Lanka celebrated the win aggressively, Sooryavanshi. several Sri Lanka players got into an altercation that needed the umpires to intervene, soon after the last ball was bowled. Eventually both sides shook hands. walked off, but there was considerable anger among players from both sides, including Sooryavanshi who was seen pushing Vishen Halambage.
Niroshan Dickwella and Sahan Arachchige, the Sri Lanka captain, then separated the pair.
Sri Lanka went into the final over needing five runs with three wickets standing. After starting with a dot ball. Arshad Khan, the left-arm seamer, nailed a perfect yorker to dismiss the well-set Sadeera Samarawickrama for 93. Singles off the next three deliveries brought the equation down to 2 off 1 with Chamika Gunasekara, the No. 9, on strike.
Arshad bowled a low full toss on the pads. that deflected to keeper Prabhsimran Singh, who relayed the throw to the batter's end to effect a run out to leave the scores tied. Tilak. India contested the run, stating the batter had offered no stroke, but the umpire eventually signaled a leg bye to force a tie.
In a game of fine margins, India could have looked back at a number of moments that defined the game. The one that could rankle. though, is the 10 runs they conceded via penalties for repeatedly running on the protected area.
On-field umpires Prageeth Rambukwella. Shantha Fonseka officially imposed the two five-run penalties midway through the 34th and 37th overs respectively. On both occasions, Vipraj Nigam was guilty of running right down the pitch while attempting singles. Nigam had twice been warned previously for similar transgressions, before the penalties kicked in.
This meant Sri Lanka began their chase with 10 runs even before a ball was bowled.
Before all the drama, India were lifted by a maiden List A half-century by Shedge. The Mumbai allrounder held the lower order together, after legspinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth orchestrated a middle-order implosion with the wickets of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nishant Sindhu. Anukul Roy.
Each of his scalps came off deliveries that didn't turn. Gaikwad was lbw after being beaten on the inside edge, Sindhu. Roy were caught behind off deliveries that skidded through. But from 143 for 7. Shedge batted sensibly alongside Nigam, the eighth-wicket pair put together 104 to give India a total to bowl at.
Shedge's 66-ball 72 was the top score for India, to go alongside scores of 40. 26 not out in his two previous outings. He was also quite lively with the ball, able to generate movement off the deck. bowl at a sprightly pace. His return catch of No. 6 Ahan Wickramasinghe left Sri Lanka reeling at 143 for 5. Surprisingly, he was soon taken off the attack and ended with figures of 3-0-13-1, with Tilak turning to the spinners.
For a second straight game, Samarawickrama was at the heart of Sri Lanka's chase. He made a polished. unbeaten 60 not out to help overcome Afghanistan two days ago, but Monday proved a tad more challenging. Like Shedge, he had to combat a middle-order wobble. played himself in to get to a half-century off 74 balls. Along the way. he was dropped on 56 by Shedge in the 30th over when he chipped Nigam straight to extra cover. That lifeline could have cost India massively as Samarawickrama took the game right to the finish line. before chaos reigned supreme.
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