Gurnoor Brar's ten-wicket match haul seals series win for India A

Gurnoor Brar completed a ten-wicket match haul to orchestrate India A's 10-wicket win on the final day of the second unofficial Test in Galle on Sunday (July 5). The result gave the visitors a 1-0 series win after the first unofficial ended in a draw.

India A started Day 4 on a score of 541/8 in their first innings, batting just nine deliveries for two runs before declaring immediately after Yash Thakur's dismissal. Saransh Jain remained unbeaten on 70 as Ruturaj Gaikwad, who retired hurt on 13 on Day 2, did not return to bat. With a 177-lead under their belt, Gurnoor set India A on their way with two wickets in his first three overs as he dismissed Sohan de Livera and Nuwanidu Fernando. Auqib Nabi followed suit with the wicket of Pawantha Weerasinghe as Sri Lanka A were reduced to 9/3 in the first four overs.

That prompted a counter-attack from Ashen Bandara, who peeled off a hat-trick of boundaries in the seventh over sent down by Gurnoor. Skipper Sahan Arachchige, who scored 127 in the first innings, also chipped in with a couple of fours but Thakur struck off his first delivery to remove the left-hander. It did not stop Bandara from continuing to take the positive route, as he raced to a half-century off 47 deliveries. He then took the attack to legspinner Zeeshan Ansari for a couple of sixes as Sri Lanka A reached Lunch on 115/4.

But Gurnoor returned to inflict further damage in the second session, dismissing Anjala Bandara and Ashen, who scored 87, in quick succession. Keshara Nuwantha's brisk 26 and Dilum Sudeera's 21 helped the hosts rub off the deficit, but wickets fell regularly as Saransh chipped in with a couple of wickets. Fittingly, it was Gurnoor who finished what he started, nabbing Sudeera for his fifth wicket, before cleaning up Dulaj Samuditha for his sixth as he finished with a match haul of 10 for 145.

India A's chase of 33 began after Tea and they needed just 5.2 overs to get the job done. Sai Sudharsan capped off an excellent series with a brisk unbeaten 25 off 22, sealing the chase with a boundary with the scores level, as Vidarbha's Aman Mokhade remained unbeaten on 11. The win saw India A complete a successful tour that began with triumph in the one-day tri-series which also involved Afghanistan A.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka A 366 (Sahan Arachchige 127, Nuwanidu Fernando 44; Gurnoor Brar 4-77, Saransh Jain 4-92) & 209 (Ashen Bandara 87; Gurnoor Brar 6-68, Saransh Jain 2-66) lost to India A 543/9 decl. (Sai Sudharsan 168, Devdutt Padikkal 94; Keshara Nuwantha 5-159) & 36-0 (Sai Sudharsan 25*, Aman Mokhade 11*) by 10 wickets.