219/10 (42.5)
CR : 5.11
322/8 (50.0)
CR : 6.44
Sri Lanka A won by 103 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Avishka Fernando
110(97)
Over 43
Afghanistan A 219/10
Mohammad Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai4(13)
Faridoon Dawoodzai10(12)
Dulaj Samuditha5-25(6.5)
Over 43
Afghanistan A 219/10
Mohammad Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai
Faridoon Dawoodzai10(12)
Dulaj Samuditha5-25(6.5)
SL-A won by 103 runs
5:25 PM IST and Local Time: Sri Lanka A have advanced to the grand finale and they will meet the India A team on Sunday for the trophy. They needed a victory to confirm their place in the finale. Avishka Fernando's century, Niroshan Dickwell's breezy batting in the powerplay and an overwhelming spell from Dulaj Samuditha have powered them to a massive victory by 103 runs.
Winning the toss, Afghanistan captain Imran Mir sent Sri Lanka to bat first. Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando started playing their shots early. They saw off the first three overs and then went hammer and tongs against the Afghanistan bowlers. Imran rotated his bowlers, brought spin but nothing worked against the pair of Dickwella-Avishka. They got to their individual fifties in a quick time, took the score to 126/0 after 15 overs. Sri Lanka were dominating but Faridoon Dawoodzai removed Niroshan for 66. The opening stand of 133 off 99 legal balls put Sri Lanka ahead in the game.
Nuwanidu Fernando joined Avishka after that but he was nowhere near his best touch. He struggled to time the ball and Avishka carried the innings forward. Together they scored 93 runs for the second wicket but took 114 balls to go there. Avishka meanwhile completed his hundred and got out on 110 off 97 balls. He hit 13 fours and a maximum.
After Avishka's dismissal, Afghanistan bowlers pulled things back. They removed Sadeera Samarawickrama and Nuwanidu Fernando (45 off 70 balls) in a quick succession. In the last 10 overs, the Afghans conceded just 65 runs and picked up 5 wickets. Ravindu Fernando and Wanuja Sahan played two cameo knocks to take the team score to 322/8.
Afghans showed a lot of character with the ball in the second half of first innings. Faridoon Dawoodzai was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 60 runs in 10 overs. Farmanullah Safi picked up 3 wickets for 68 runs in his 10 overs. Abdulrahimzai picked up a wicket. Unfortunately, no spinner picked up any wicket for Afghanistan although Khalil Gurbaz was miserly in his 9-over spell conceding 41.
Afghanistan needed 323 runs to chase. But they had to chase it inside 29.3 overs to ensure a qualification in the final. Dulaj Samuditha was spot on right from the first over. He removed Imran Mir in the second ball and knocked Noor ul Rahman over in the final ball of that over. Afghanistan were down with 2/2 in the first over. Hassan Eisakhil played his shot but he was not audacious enough to go for chasing it within 29.3 overs. He put up 39 runs for the 3rd wicket with Faisal Shinozada but the latter was dismissed for just 9.
Eisakhil and Bahir Shah were in the middle and their partnership showed some promise to Afghanistan for just a victory. They added 75 runs in 65 balls before Eisakhil got out. Eisakhil top scored for Afghanistan with his 74 off 78 balls hitting 5 fours and 3 sixes. Then Afghans lost wickets in clusters. Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai departed for 19 as the latter cut a wayward delivery of Mathulan to Nuwanidu. Bahir Shah followed the suit and cut another wayward delivery of Mathulan to Viyaskanth at the deep third.
Farmanullah Safi and Khalil Gurbaz showed some resistance. Gurbaz was just defending the balls while Safi took the aggressor's role. Safi hit anything whenever there was anything in his slot. His resilience was the reason Afghanistan could score 200. Then Sri Lanka skipper Sahan Arachchige changed the bowling and brought Dulaj Samuditha back in. Samuditha knocked over Safi for 43. In the same over, he removed Khalil Gurbaz. Then he wrapped the innings up with a searing yorker to Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai. Afghanistan could score only 219 before getting bundled out.
Dulaj Samuditha was the star of the bowling show picking up 5 wickets for 25 runs. He was well supported by his new ball bowling partner Kugadas Mathulan who picked up 3 wickets for 38 runs. Ravindu Fernando and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth picked up a wicket each.
Winning the toss, Afghanistan captain Imran Mir sent Sri Lanka to bat first. Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando started playing their shots early. They saw off the first three overs and then went hammer and tongs against the Afghanistan bowlers. Imran rotated his bowlers, brought spin but nothing worked against the pair of Dickwella-Avishka. They got to their individual fifties in a quick time, took the score to 126/0 after 15 overs. Sri Lanka were dominating but Faridoon Dawoodzai removed Niroshan for 66. The opening stand of 133 off 99 legal balls put Sri Lanka ahead in the game.
Nuwanidu Fernando joined Avishka after that but he was nowhere near his best touch. He struggled to time the ball and Avishka carried the innings forward. Together they scored 93 runs for the second wicket but took 114 balls to go there. Avishka meanwhile completed his hundred and got out on 110 off 97 balls. He hit 13 fours and a maximum.
After Avishka's dismissal, Afghanistan bowlers pulled things back. They removed Sadeera Samarawickrama and Nuwanidu Fernando (45 off 70 balls) in a quick succession. In the last 10 overs, the Afghans conceded just 65 runs and picked up 5 wickets. Ravindu Fernando and Wanuja Sahan played two cameo knocks to take the team score to 322/8.
Afghans showed a lot of character with the ball in the second half of first innings. Faridoon Dawoodzai was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 60 runs in 10 overs. Farmanullah Safi picked up 3 wickets for 68 runs in his 10 overs. Abdulrahimzai picked up a wicket. Unfortunately, no spinner picked up any wicket for Afghanistan although Khalil Gurbaz was miserly in his 9-over spell conceding 41.
Afghanistan needed 323 runs to chase. But they had to chase it inside 29.3 overs to ensure a qualification in the final. Dulaj Samuditha was spot on right from the first over. He removed Imran Mir in the second ball and knocked Noor ul Rahman over in the final ball of that over. Afghanistan were down with 2/2 in the first over. Hassan Eisakhil played his shot but he was not audacious enough to go for chasing it within 29.3 overs. He put up 39 runs for the 3rd wicket with Faisal Shinozada but the latter was dismissed for just 9.
Eisakhil and Bahir Shah were in the middle and their partnership showed some promise to Afghanistan for just a victory. They added 75 runs in 65 balls before Eisakhil got out. Eisakhil top scored for Afghanistan with his 74 off 78 balls hitting 5 fours and 3 sixes. Then Afghans lost wickets in clusters. Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai departed for 19 as the latter cut a wayward delivery of Mathulan to Nuwanidu. Bahir Shah followed the suit and cut another wayward delivery of Mathulan to Viyaskanth at the deep third.
Farmanullah Safi and Khalil Gurbaz showed some resistance. Gurbaz was just defending the balls while Safi took the aggressor's role. Safi hit anything whenever there was anything in his slot. His resilience was the reason Afghanistan could score 200. Then Sri Lanka skipper Sahan Arachchige changed the bowling and brought Dulaj Samuditha back in. Samuditha knocked over Safi for 43. In the same over, he removed Khalil Gurbaz. Then he wrapped the innings up with a searing yorker to Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai. Afghanistan could score only 219 before getting bundled out.
Dulaj Samuditha was the star of the bowling show picking up 5 wickets for 25 runs. He was well supported by his new ball bowling partner Kugadas Mathulan who picked up 3 wickets for 38 runs. Ravindu Fernando and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth picked up a wicket each.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: AVISHKA FERNANDO
Avishka Fernando (Player of the Match): (On his innings and the batting conditions) "I'm happy with my innings. The wicket was a bit slow early on, but then it got better, and I played accordingly.
(On being the leading run-scorer in the tournament) Yes, I'm pleased with it.
(On the importance of the tournament for the team) It is important for us to perform and get a stage to show our talent."
(On being the leading run-scorer in the tournament) Yes, I'm pleased with it.
(On the importance of the tournament for the team) It is important for us to perform and get a stage to show our talent."
Imran Mir (Afghanistan A Captain): "(On the tournament) It was a great exposure for the team. A brilliant tournament. Such tournaments give you the experience to go further. There were good moments in the tournament but we didn't get to where we wanted to go. We are much better as a team. We could not deliver when it was required.
(On today's game) Top order did not take the responsibility. That is one big area where we failed. The bowling was not also good enough. There are a few areas we need to work on.
(What are the positives you take back?) I think what we have done is we put up efforts as a part of the squad to play here. We have got the experience. We have the areas to work on where we are behind. We want to improve and perform better in such tournaments."
(On today's game) Top order did not take the responsibility. That is one big area where we failed. The bowling was not also good enough. There are a few areas we need to work on.
(What are the positives you take back?) I think what we have done is we put up efforts as a part of the squad to play here. We have got the experience. We have the areas to work on where we are behind. We want to improve and perform better in such tournaments."
Sahan Arachchige (Sri Lanka-A Captain): (On Sri Lanka's comeback and reaching the final) "It's a great comeback. The boys did very well, so I'm really happy as a captain.
(On the pitches and batting conditions throughout the tournament) Yes, of course, the wickets and pitches are very good. The little bit issue is that they are a little bit slow, but for batting, the pitches are very good.
(On seeing both young and senior players perform well) Yes, as a captain, I'm really happy. All the boys are doing very well, and every batter, every bowler is really doing very well. So as a captain and as a team member, I'm really happy about it."
(On the pitches and batting conditions throughout the tournament) Yes, of course, the wickets and pitches are very good. The little bit issue is that they are a little bit slow, but for batting, the pitches are very good.
(On seeing both young and senior players perform well) Yes, as a captain, I'm really happy. All the boys are doing very well, and every batter, every bowler is really doing very well. So as a captain and as a team member, I'm really happy about it."
Right then! We have the finalists of this Sri Lanka Tri-Series 2026. Sri Lanka A have got a mammoth victory by 103 runs against Afghanistan A. Now with a hat-trick of victories after the defeat in the first match, the hosts finish at the helm of the points table with 6 points. India A won two games and are second in the table with 4 points. Now the top two will go to play the summit clash scheduled on Sunday.
For Afghanistan A, barring that one victory against India A in a rain curtailed game, things have not gone well. They lost three games in totality and have finished at the bottom of the points table. But as their captain said in the post-match interview, they have identified a few areas where they need to work on.
So, do join us for the live coverage of the finale on Sunday. The first ball will be bowled at 10 AM IST and Local Time. Our coverage will start an hour prior to that. For now, I am Saptak Sanyal, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Dev Rajawat and the scorer/analyst Sahil Khan.
For Afghanistan A, barring that one victory against India A in a rain curtailed game, things have not gone well. They lost three games in totality and have finished at the bottom of the points table. But as their captain said in the post-match interview, they have identified a few areas where they need to work on.
So, do join us for the live coverage of the finale on Sunday. The first ball will be bowled at 10 AM IST and Local Time. Our coverage will start an hour prior to that. For now, I am Saptak Sanyal, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Dev Rajawat and the scorer/analyst Sahil Khan.