Captain Manish Pandey scores 86 as India A thrash Afghanistan A by 113 runs

Skipper Manish Pandey continued his good form as India A outclassed Afghanistan A by 113 runs to record their second victory in the tri-nation One-day series in Pretoria on Tuesday.

In what turned out to be an authoritative batting display, India A piled up a commanding 322 for 5, riding on half-centuries from Pandey (86 off 87) and Rishab Pant (60 off 59). Krunal Pandya played a fiery cameo, smashing 48 off 27 balls to make a significant contribution. Pandey blasted nine boundaries and a six, while Pant hit five fours and a six in his innings. Krunal’s swashbuckling innings was studded with seven fours and a six.
India A then restricted Afghanistan A to 209 for nine to notch up a comfortable win. India had defeated Afghanistan by seven wickets on July 28th.

Chasing a stiff target, Afghanistan batsmen got starts but they could not capitalise. Javed Ahmadi (21), Younas Ahmadzai (28), Rahmat Shah (28) were out despite making good starts as Afghanistan were looking down the barrel at 98 for 5 in the 27th over. Najibullah Zadran (62 off 78) stood amidst the ruins with a strokeful fifty. For India, Mohammed Siraj (3/49) took three wickets, while Vijay Shankar …read more