India A vs Afghanistan A, 5th Match, Tri Nation A Series in Sri Lanka 2026 - CommentaryINDA vs AFGA, 5th Match, Tri Nation A Series in Sri Lanka 2026 - Commentary

India A have booked their ticket to the finals and are waiting to see who they will play. Their opponent will be decided when Sri Lanka A face Afghanistan A in the final group game. The race is open, but because Afghanistan's Net Run Rate is very low, they must pull off a massive win to qualify. Thank you for joining our coverage, and we will see you for the big final!

Tilak Varma | Captain of India A: Yeah, but honestly, we wanted to bowl first. But you can see the wicket has not changed much. So I think the bowlers today, everyone took that responsibility and bowled well. Honestly, the way their fast bowlers were bowling really well on the good lengths, they were hitting hard and it was nice to see. But at the same point, I wanted to follow my basics and at that moment we needed a good partnership. So that was what I was looking at. (Any learnings from this series?) Definitely, there will be a lot of learnings. At the same point, if you have seen many in our squad, they are playing for the first time and it is a big learning for them. Everyone is coming and learning nicely. You can see, comparing to the last two games, how they played today. So yeah, it’s a big learning for everyone.

Imran Mir | Captain of Afghanistan A: Initially, we’ve got a bit of start, but then in between, the partnership between Bahir and Faisal was quite good. We were thinking that it’s quite gettable, but then they’ve lost their wickets and couldn’t make their way. (Talking about their bowling) I think as the expectation was, they were not bowling the way it was expected from them. But, in between they were doing a good comeback and they did a good job. I would expect that they do better in the upcoming game. Yeah, I think it’s going to be a very important game and we will, try our best and come with a positive intent and try our best to make it happen.

Nishant Sindhu | Player of the match: It’s obviously hard to bowl on a surface like that. I just tried to bowl on a good line and length. (Talks about today's pitch) It’s almost the same there as well. We played on this kind of wicket, so we are used to it. We are just trying to take one game at a time, so we are looking forward to it.

Earlier in the match, it was India's batsmen who set up the game by posting a strong total of 319/9. Skipper Tilak Varma led from the front with a fine 59, while openers Priyansh Arya (58) and Kumar Kushagra (58) also hit crucial half-centuries. A late cameo of 30 runs from Vipraj Nigam pushed the score past 300. It was a clinical performance from the Men in Blue. Stay tuned for the post-match presentation.

17:35 Local Time, 12:05 GMT, 17:35 IST: This massive 101-run victory has sealed India's spot in the finals, thanks to a much better NRR. The Indian bowlers did not allow Afghanistan to get off to a good start, taking early wickets to put them under pressure. The only real fightback came from Faisal and Bahir, who put together a solid 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Bahir went on to score a half-century, while Faisal unfortunately got out just four runs short of his fifty. Once that partnership was broken, Afghanistan's batting collapsed, and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Captain Tilak Varma made smart bowling changes that worked perfectly, and spinner Nishant Sindhu starred with the ball by taking four wickets. Afghanistan were eventually bowled out for 218.

Nishant Sindhu to Zahir Khan, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Nishant Sindhu to Shams Ur Rahman, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Indian players celebrate. There is confusion and the batter holds his ground. Umpires have taken the case upstairs. Replays shows the ball brushed the bails and he is bowled. Out it is.