India A 322 for 5 (Pandey 86*, Pant 60) beat Afghanistan A 209 for 9 (Najibullah 62, Siraj 3-49, Shankar 2-21) by 113 runs
File Photo – Manish Pandey’s unbeaten 87-ball 86 piloted India A to 322 for 5 © Getty Images
Quick half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Manish Pandey, and a combined seven wickets from Mohammed Siraj, Siddarth Kaul and Vijay Shankar led India A to a massive 113-run win against Afghanistan A in Pretoria. India A put on a challenging 322 for 5 and restricted their opponents to 209 for 9 with only one batsman – Najibullah Zadran (62) – scoring more than 30.
Having been asked to bat, India A lost opener Karun Nair early before three solid partnerships helped them past 250. Shreyas Iyer (44) and Pant (60 off 59) put on 70 for the second wicket before Sharafuddin Ashraf dismissed Iyer. Pant and Pandey took the score to 150 with the run rate over five an over and Pandey, the captain, batted with the lower order with useful contributions from Deepak Hooda (32) and Krunal Pandya (48 off 27). Krunal struck seven fours and a six, helping India score 101 runs in the last 10 overs, as Pandey remained unbeaten on 86 off 87.
Siraj struck with his first ball when he removed Ihsanullah for a first-ball duck in the second over. Most of the other frontline Afghanistan batsmen got starts, facing at least 30 balls, but could not capitalise on them. Siraj also removed the other opener, Javed Ahmadi, in the 10th over before Shankar dented the middle order in the middle overs. Afghanistan were 95 for 4 in the 25th over, and when Shankar had Nasir Jamal caught for 14, they were reeling at 98 for 5.
Najibullah, at No. 6, was running out of partners during his half-century. The lower order also scored in the twenties but Najibullah could only steer the score to 207 when he fell to Kaul after striking four fours and three sixes.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo