India-A has made a strong start by registering a thrilling win in the very first match of the triangular series on the Sri Lanka tour. In the first match of the series against host Sri Lanka-A, vice-captain Rituraj Gaikwad scored an excellent century for India-A. After this, the bowlers made a strong comeback at the last moment and won by a close margin of just 8 runs. Arshad Khan played a big role in this victory in the 49th over, where the Indian team got 3 wickets.
Vaibhav did not play but Gaikwad scored a century
Before this match played on June 9 in Dambulla, most of the discussion and eyes were on 15 year old star Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The same performance was expected from Vaibhav, who came to play this series in Sri Lanka immediately after the successful IPL 2026 season. The Indian opener also showed a glimpse of this when, continuing the IPL trend, he hit a four on the first ball here too. But this time he could not last long and was out after scoring 14 runs in 12 balls.
The team had lost 3 wickets for only 69 runs, after which the pair of captain Tilak Verma and vice-captain Rituraj Gaikwad got settled. Together they pulled the team out of this situation and made a partnership of 150 runs. During this, Gaikwad (101) completed his best century, while captain Tilak (60) scored a slow but fighting half-century. Both were out in consecutive overs, after which Ayush Badoni (24) and Suryansh Shedge (26 not out) took the score to 277 runs with explosive batting.
What a way to kick off the #TriNationSeries!
India A pull off a spectacular comeback with the ball to secure a thrilling 8-run victory against Sri Lanka A
score card
https://t.co/nwKDTkg1ZY#SLAvINDA
Credits: Sri Lanka Cricket pic.twitter.com/kSNXFOTIKH
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 9, 2026
Despite a fast start, Sri Lanka lost the match
On the other hand, Sri Lanka A’s experienced openers, Avishka Fernando (45) and Niroshan Dickwella (47), attacked India A as soon as they arrived and made a partnership of 93 runs within 16 overs. But Ayush Badoni dismissed both of them in his 2 consecutive overs and put a break on Sri Lanka’s innings. Soon Sri Lanka lost 3 wickets for 109 runs and the Indian team was seen making a comeback. But then the pair of Sadira Samarawickrama (46) and captain Sahan Arachchighe took over the innings by adding 78 runs.
Although the Indian team kept taking wickets from time to time, as long as Arachchighe was at the crease, Sri Lanka was ahead. Sri Lanka A needed 17 runs in the last 3 overs but Anshul Kamboj bowled Arachchighe (74) on the second ball of this over. Despite this, Sri Lanka had 3 wickets left and the match was in its favor. But then in the 49th over, Arshad Khan gave victory to the team. Sri Lanka lost all three wickets in 5 balls of this over, of which Arshad got 2 and the entire team collapsed for 269 runs.
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