India 'A' cantered to a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan ‘A’ in their second one-day game of the Tri-series in South Africa. After the Indian attack bundled Afghanistan out for a paltry 149, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey helped chase down the target with over 19 overs to spare.
Siddharth Kaul dealt the first blow by claiming Usman Ghani in the second over with just four runs on the board. Javed Ahmadi then added 38 runs with Rahmat Shah until Axar Patel (3/33) sent back the opener. And in the next over, the spinner also dismissed Nasir Jamal to leave the opponents on 45 for three.
While Shah dug in at one end, Najibullah Zadran helped in stemming the fall of wickets. The pair added 48 runs until Zadran was sent back by Yuzvendra Chahal. Vijay Shankar (3/24) then ended Shah's resistance and also removed Afsar Zazai four runs later to leave Afghanistan on 102 for six. Chahal removed captain Shafiqualla while Karim Janat was sent back by Shankar.
Axar and Shardul Thakur then wrapped up the Afghanistan innings by claiming the tail-enders.
Chasing the sub-par total, India lost their first wicket on 31. Shreyas Iyer opening the batting with Karun Nair was sent back by Ahmadzai for 20. And 23 runs later, Sanju Samson was trapped lbw by Janat leaving India on 54 for two. Pandey then joined his captain and the pair had taken India to 121 when Ashraf ended the partnership. Nair was sent back for 57. With Rishabh Pant, Pandey then took the team to the target with an unbeaten 41.
Brief scores: Afghanistan A 149 in 40.4 overs (Sharafuddin Ashraf 39, Vijay Shankar 3/24, Axar Patel 3/33, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/42) lost to India A 150/3 in 30.4 overs (Karun Nair 57, Manish Pandey 41 no, Rishabh Pant 17 no) by 7 wickets.
Man of the Match: Karun Nair
