In what may have potentially been his last innings as an uncapped player, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed the fastest List A half-century, off 11 balls, in an innings that eventually ended as an audacious 29-ball 94. That helped India A beat Sri Lanka A  by 66 runs in the tri-series final in Dambulla on Sunday.

Sooryavanshi came into the final on the back of four starts that yielded 117 runs. But the focal point of his tour had been his scrap with the Sri Lanka A players at the end of a tense group fixture four days ago. Amid talks of a reprimand and a fine, Sooryavanshi returned to let his bat do all the talking this time.

His turbocharge laid the foundation of an India A innings that stuttered at different times to eventually post 377 for 9, when 400-plus looked well on the cards. That they finished with what they did was largely down to Anukul Roy, who, like Sooryavanshi, also comes from the town of Samastipur.

Roy smashed 39 off just 15 balls, courtesy four sixes, to give the India A innings a late lift after they had slumped to 334 for 8, and were in danger of being bowled out with a few overs to spare. As it turned out, that wasn’t Roy’s only contribution. He also picked up two vital wickets with his left-arm spin, including that of the set Vijaykanth Viyaskanth to break a 77-run seventh-wicket partnership that kept Sri Lanka A’s hopes alive.

However, the wicket of Wanuja Sahan for a 69-ball 62, the highest contribution of Sri Lanka A’s innings, proved to be the clincher, with Sri Lanka A eventually being bowled out for 311 in the 48th over. Roy aside, legspin-bowling allrounder Vipraj Nigam and fast bowler Yash Thakur picked up three wickets each to play their parts in a fine win.

The performance that would be long remembered, though, was Sooryavanshi’s. Before raising his half-century off just 11 deliveries, each of his first five balls was sent to the boundary. Sooryavanshi kept going hard, and had the fastest List A century in sights until he fell to Sahan Arachchige, the offspinner and Sri Lanka A captain, in the ninth over. By then, India A had raced to 132 in just 8.5 overs.

Sooryavanshi smashed an incredible ten fours and eight sixes in his innings, before falling while attempting to hit a ninth six, out caught at mid-off after failing to get the elevation. It was the second time in two games that he was dismissed by Arachchige. In the Super Over fixture against Sri Lanka A, Sooryavanshi had sliced a tossed-up delivery to point as he lost shape. On Sunday, he backed away to clear the infield, buy only managed to find Viyaskanth at mid-off.

Sooryavanshi’s hitting, especially over extra cover on the up – it was reminiscent of the shot he hit off the very first delivery he faced in the IPL last year – was mighty impressive. As was his ability to play on the minds of the bowlers by getting inside the line of short deliveries to pull or help them over the leg-side boundary. The one shot that exhibited Sooryavanshi’s range, and presence of mind, was the ramp over the wicketkeeper off a delivery from Kugathas Mathulan, whose lengths he had struggled to get underneath in a gun Super Over the last time they met.

Here, having seemingly been beaten for pace, Sooryavanshi still managed to lay a neat little deflection. although he had arched back, and was nearly squatting in an effort to initially bail out of the stroke. One ball prior to that, Sooryavanshi had a small crowd guffawing at his ability to scythe a wide yorker over backward point for six.

While Sooryavanshi was at the crease, India scored 35% of their eventual score of 377. After his dismissal, the rest managed just 245 off 41.1 overs, when it seemed like India A would sail past the 400-run mark. Through the middle overs, Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad put together an 84-run partnership for the third wicket to consolidate the innings.

Tilak scored 67 but ended up consuming 90 balls. After his dismissal, India A lost three quick wickets and were in danger of being bowled out for under 350. However, Roy’s late fireworks and an entertaining cameo of 27 from Nigam, who had struck his maiden List A fifty in the previous game against the hosts, gave India A a much higher total to defend.

Sri Lanka A’s chase needed one of their top three batters to bat big. Instead, they were all removed by Yash Thakur. Niroshan Dickwella was bowled attempting to back away to flay a length ball over cover, Avishka Fernando was out nicking to slip, and Nuwanidu Fernando flicked a leg-stump half volley to the lone fielder at deep-backward square leg.

Thakur aside, India A debutant Ashok Sharma was mighty impressive with his speeds, even though he got taken apart for runs in his first spell. While speed guns were absent, Ashok repeatedly hustled batters with his pace and late movement. He also dismissed Sadeera Samarawickrama, one of Sri Lanka A’s most accomplished batters, for a 44-ball 52 just when he was beginning to shift gears. From there on, Sri Lanka A kept losing wickets until a late flourish from Sahan kept them alive, only for those hopes to be dashed by India A’s spinners.

SCORES:
India A 377 for 9 in 50 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 94, Rutraj Gaikwad 40, Tilak Varma 67, Anukul Roy 39; Kugathas Mathulan 2-82, Ravindu Fernando 2-72, Wanuja Sahan 2-39) beat Sri Lanka A 311 (Wanuja Sahan 62, Sadeera Samarawickrama 52, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 39; Yash Thakur 3-45, Vipraj Nigam 3-60,Anukul Roy 2-42) by 66 runs

[Cricinfo]