{"id":725754,"date":"2026-06-09T19:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/725754\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T19:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T19:19:08","slug":"sl-a-vs-ind-a-ruturaj-gaikwad-101-trumps-arachchige-74-as-india-a-win-thriller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/725754\/","title":{"rendered":"SL A vs Ind A – Ruturaj Gaikwad 101 trumps Arachchige 74 as India A win thriller"},"content":{"rendered":"

India A<\/a> began their tour of Sri Lanka<\/a> with a nervy eight-run win<\/a> against the hosts in Dambulla. A series that has been given the added edge by the presence of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi<\/a> opened under hot weather on a two-paced surface. The stroke-making on the pitch was anything but easy. Here’s a look back at the match which India A eventually snatched from the jaws of defeat.<\/p>\n

Sooryavanshi’s India A debut<\/p>\n

There had been a frenzy around him ever since he arrived in Sri Lanka three days ago. Fans, officials and media alike clamoured for a glimpse of him. Their first sighting of the 15-year-old in action was brief. Yet, it offered a tantalising glimpse of what they could expect.<\/p>\n

After Prabhsimran Singh played out a first-over maiden, Sooryavanshi got off the mark with a boundary off his very first ball – a slap over the infield. Three fours followed in a 12-ball knock that yielded 14 runs. His innings ended in the fourth over when an attempted loft off seamer Mohamed Shiraz flew flat to mid-off, where captain Sahan Arachchige pulled off a superb diving catch.<\/p>\n

Sooryavanshi has three more group games, followed by a final if India A qualify, to make amends before he flies to Ireland. There, he will link up with the senior Indian team for the T20I series.<\/p>\n

\"Vaibhav<\/p>\n

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made 14 off 12 on his India A debut\u2022SLC<\/p>\n

Gaikwad’s middle-order flexibility<\/p>\n

Ruturaj Gaikwad<\/a> wasn’t even in the original squad, but a hamstring injury to Riyan Parag earned him a late call-up to Sri Lanka, and unexpectedly, the vice-captaincy. On Tuesday, he made the most of that opportunity, showing he could thrive in the No. 4 role in one-day cricket with a measured 114-ball 101 that anchored India A’s 277.It was another reminder of Gaikwad’s pedigree in the format. His only ODI century for India came in his most recent appearance<\/a>, against South Africa in December 2025, when he shared a 195-run stand with Virat Kohli in Raipur. However, this innings was different.<\/p>\n

On a slow surface where Sri Lanka A’s spinners controlled much of the middle overs, Gaikwad prioritised strike rotation over boundary-hitting. He struck just six fours and three sixes, yet dominated a 150-run fourth-wicket partnership with captain Tilak Varma.<\/p>\n

Gaikwad was reprieved on 49, when Niroshan Dickwella missed a straightforward stumping opportunity off legspinner Vijaykanth Viyaskanth. Gaikwad kicked his innings into high gear thereafter by hitting the next ball, a full toss, for six over deep midwicket to bring up his half-century.<\/p>\n

The hundred brought a unique record: it was his 21st List A century, achieved in just his 96th match, making him the fastest player to reach the mark. Pakistan’s Khurram Manzoor, the previous quickest, needed 130 matches.<\/p>\n

\"Sahan<\/p>\n

Sahan Arachchige’s 74 was not enough as Sri Lanka A collapsed in the chase\u2022SLC<\/p>\n

Shedge, Roy make all-round impact<\/p>\n

India’s search for a seam-bowling allrounder beyond Hardik Pandya has largely centred on Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube. But there is growing promise in Suryansh Shedge<\/a>. The Mumbai allrounder provided the finishing touches to India A’s innings with an unbeaten 26 off 14 balls.<\/p>\n

Then, with the ball, Shedge extracted appreciable seam movement and bounce in a lively opening spell, troubling Sri Lanka A’s batters despite finishing wicketless with 8-0-41-0. If he can bowl as consistently as he did here, he will continue to strengthen his case after a solid IPL 2026.<\/p>\n

Anukul Roy<\/a>, meanwhile, showed why he remains a highly-rated spin option. The left-arm spinner returned 2 for 49 from his ten overs, but the figures only partly reflected his impact. He broke an 86-run stand by enticing Sadeera Samarawickrama into a mistimed loft to long-on, before dismissing Ravindu Fernando caught and bowled off a leading edge in his next over. Those strikes led Sri Lanka A from cruise control to full-blown turbulence. They were eventually bowled out for 269 in the 49th over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India A began their tour of Sri Lanka with a nervy eight-run win against the hosts in Dambulla.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":725755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,203020,740,12063,43,44,145550,85],"class_list":["post-725754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bulletin","tag-cricket","tag-daily","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-package","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/725755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}