India A register comprehensive win over Afghanistan A
Riding on Manish Pandey's quick-fire 86 not out and Krunal Pandya's 48 off 27 balls, coupled with a clinical bowling performance helped India A to a comfortable 113 runs wins over Afghanistan A in the fourth match of the One-Day tri-series in South Africa. It was India's second win in the tournament and are now behind leaders South Africa, who have won both their matches. After Karun Nair departed early, Shreyas Iyer (44 off 55) and Rishabh Pant (60 off
59) put India on course for a big total with a 70-run partnership. Though the partnership was broken in the 22nd over, Afghanistan failed to make further inroads as India put on another big partnership between Pant and Pandey. When Pant was dismissed with India on 150 in the 28th over, Deepak Hooda joined captain Pandey and the two added 78 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. Hooda was trapped lbw by Sharafuddin Ashraf for his second wicket and that brought Krunal Pandya to the middle. The all-rounder provided the fireworks with his knock of 48 that included seven boundaries and a six. Pandey too got going on the other end and provided a perfect finish. Chasing 323 demanded a strong start but Mohammed Siraj removed Ihsanullah in the second over and struck again a bit later to remove the other opener - Javed Ahmadi. After a brief 33-run stand, Afghanistan lost the third wicket Younas Ahmadzai, who was caught by Iyer off Axar Patel. Vijay Shankar's double strike reduced Afghanistan to 98 for five and from there on they were never in a position to overhaul India's target. India will now play South Africa A on Thursday before the final on Sunday against the same opposition.
Brief Scores: India A 322/5 in 50 overs (Manish Pandey 86*, Rishabh Pant 60, Krunal Pandya 48; Sharafuddin Ashraf 2-48) beat Afghanistan A 209/9 in 50 overs (Najibullah Zadran 62, Younas Ahmadzai 28; Mohammad Siraj 3-49, Vijay Shankar 2-21, Siddarth Kaul 2-35) by 113 runs.
Man of the Match: Manish Pandey
