In a very spectacular fashion, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made his stand in one of the most Impactful in List A cricket for India A against Sri Lanka A in the tri-series finale at the Dambulla venue when the victors won by 66 runs. The sensation in his teens managed to play with a clock speed that left a world record for half a century to be broken, and ended with a breathing down his neck, 6 minutes and 24 seconds before 100, accumulating a staggering 94 on the first 29 deliveries. The unlikely captain came up with an outstanding knock and helped set up an enormous effort of 377 for 9 which proved to be Sri Lanka A’s undoing despite their spirited efforts.
Having come into the final, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was yet to build the big knocks that everyone hoped for from him in this event. He had also caused a stir with the Sri Lanka A players during a critical situation in the group stage game against Sri Lanka earlier in the week. The young opener had no need to tune out due to all the noise, but instead, he played his best. His mindset was set when he made his way to the crease. The opener was immediately under pressure after dropping the first five balls of the game four fours, two towering sixes up and off to the outside boundary.
The rest of the night was a display of modern unyielding batting. Then, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi reached 50 in 11 balls, stoking the excitement of the record books and rowing the bowlers frantically for answers. He was free to hit anything that was loose and even picked up good deliveries just like hotcakes. His shooting was as much an asset as was his power. From his lofted ball rolling high over extra cover to his short deliveries going deep into the stands, or his scrambling and deflections making the ball sound effective without those short wickets coming, the teenager had a variety of strokes which are rarely used by those at his age.
The whole audience was enchanted by one particular moment. With the delivery looking too fast to score from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finessed it last moment into the keeper’s hands. He had just bowled a wide yorker from backward point for six moments earlier, which wowed both the opposition and teammates. India A stormed to 132 in the first half of the match by the time his exceptional 95* singed by 101 deliveries had come to an end: In the end, he fell while trying to get to the plate, as Sri Lanka A had Wanuja Sahan Arachchige as their skipper when they lost the game.
Although his name was in the news all round, India A had to rely on the support of its obviously unbowed-down rest of the batting order to make the explosive start into a match-winning effort. Sri Lanka A’s bowlers then took over the contest as there was a significant decrease in scoring during their absence. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma helped to firm up the fight and found the solution between them to register a valuable 84-run third wicket stand. Gaikwad tossed in 40 runs whilst taking control of the scoreboard with a serious 67 from 90 deliveries.
India A looked set to cross the 400-run milestone with ease at one stage in the match. But, a st Did halt that aspiration. Then, Anukul Roy came up with a game-changer as the game turned the tables in favour of his side. Roy fired the boundary four times to hammer 39 runs from 15 deliveries, helping India A to cement their strong end in the game. Vipraj Nigam also contributed a fun-loving 27 as India A built an impressive 377 for 9.
But Sri Lanka A needed a strong start to keep on the chase and India A’s pace bowling attack hit the top of them early. Yash Thakur then let loose his killing machine and got all three top-order batsmen in front of the bowlers, at least till the first half of the chase. Niroshan Dickwella was bowled while attempting an ‘ambitious’ stroke, Avishka Fernando edged behind to slip and Nuwanidu Fernando picked off the single to touch the boundary frisk, with a poor throw and timing. Sri Lanka A blitzedly got themselves in touch with the refute while those early breakthroughs left them in trouble straight away.
Sri Lanka A did not give up after the failures. Sadeera Samarawickrama hit the ball at the bases of the counterattack effort with a fine half-century and had the potential to set the scoreboard. But debutant Ashok Sharma came up with the bull’s eye at a crucial moment to put the seasoned man behind 52. Sharma played the match with a veritable pace off his chip and convincingly sent in the late variations as well, even when he didn’t have to deal with a wicket right away.
The hosts went the length of the opposition with a spirited performance from captain Wanuja Sahan with 62 runs off 69 balls. He was the third major name to join Vijaykanth Viyaskanth in a nice partnership which briefly revived Sri Lanka A’s hopes. It went down to an interesting end when the ball was in the middle of play but then Anukul Roy gave evidence of another strike for the side. His Viyaskanth retirement brought a halt to an all-bitter couple and put things back in Indian favour.
After that, the bowlers in India got the screws to loosen. Roy got two wickets and Vipraj Nigam and Yash Thakur both were responsible for getting three wickets. Finally, disciplined spin and hard pace had its effect and Sri Lanka A were bowled out in the 48th over for 311.
Though the final score was in India’s favour, the day belonged to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He had a beautiful 94 off 29 balls, which made a huge contribution to India’s score space and turned the tables against Sri Lanka A as they still had time to get themselves together. It’s a rare sight to see. While records can be broken, it seems that Indian cricket is seeing the emergence of a special talent from the way that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi neutralized an experienced top order in his top order final.
India A take home the tri-series crown, whilst cricket fans walk away with memories of a knock that will be talked about for years to come. Featuring a player that can clearly be heralded as having the potential to make the biggest stage is the right call if this had been one of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s last appearances before going for the honors.
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