Afghanistan A 177 for 2 (Imran 75*, Bahir 51*) beat India A 349 for 9 (Prabhsimran 84, Gaikwad 66, Tilak 66) by 4 runs (DLS method)
Sooryavanshi impresses again
He predominantly targeted the off side, driving or slashing anything offering width, finding the cover and point boundaries with ease, helping India A reach 50 in 4.5 overs.
He didn’t hit a six, but hit nine fours before a nick to the keeper off Abdollah Ahmadzai sent him back for 44 off 22 balls.
Prabhsimran leads the way
At the other end, Prabhsimran also started well, even if he wasn’t quite as explosive as his 15-year-old opening partner. He drove fuller balls through the covers and when the bowlers pulled their lengths back, he was happy to walk down the track and put away some punchy square drives.
He brought up a 39-ball half-century in the 14th over, driving left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan straight of mid-off to get to the milestone. He finished that over with a deft touch to beat short third.
Prabhsimran picked up three more boundaries through and over the mid-off region across the next two overs, taking India A to 140 for 2 at the first drinks break, and also bringing up a half-century stand with Gaikwad off just 38 balls.
Gaikwad and Tilak control the middle overs
Gaikwad, fresh off a century against Sri Lanka A, started off from where he left off, meeting his first ball with a glorious back-foot cover drive. That was his only boundary during his partnership with Prabhsimran, and he was happy to go at around a run a ball while Prabhsimran did the heavy lifting.
Once Prabhsimran fell, Gaikwad was joined by Tilak, and the two kept the scoreboard ticking mainly through singles and doubles, in the effort to ensure India A had the platform for a big finish. They shared a 78-run stand, during which Gaikwad brought up his half-century.
Gaikwad eventually got out trying to up the tempo, lobbing a top-edged slog off medium-pacer Farmanullah to midwicket.
Tilak also brought up a second consecutive half-century, before Suryansh Shedge and Anukul Roy applied the finish to take India A to 349 for 9 in their allotted 49 overs.
India A’s bowlers struggle for penetration
After a short delay during the first innings, more rain followed during the innings break, delaying the restart. Afghanistan A began their chase needing 294 from 38 overs. With the light likely to start fading, and with floodlights not in action, the match was most probably going to be decided by DLS.
Afghanistan A openers Hassan Eisakhil and Imran started off quickly, with Eisakhil the initial aggressor. India A’s new-ball bowlers Anshul Kamboj and Arshad Khan failed to threaten, until Arshad drew a top edge from Eisakhil with a bouncer in the eighth over, and later in the same over had the Afghanistan opener pulling another short ball to deep square leg.
Among the spinners, Roy looked the most dangerous, trapping Khalid Taniwal lbw with an arm ball, but Vipraj Nigam and Ayush Badoni were mostly ineffectual.
Rain and bad light eventually stopped play at 5.28pm, with Afghanistan A four runs ahead on DLS.
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
