IND A vs SL A: Dhruv Jurel’s blast after Sai Sudarshan’s century, Sri Lanka on backfoot on the very first day

New Delhi. On the basis of the brilliant half-centuries of Sai Sudarshan (132) and the half-centuries of Dhruv Jurel (68 not out) and Sheikh Rashid (53 not out) who were heading towards the captaincy innings, India-A strengthened its position very much on the first day of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka-A. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, India A scored a huge score of 333 runs after losing 4 wickets by the end of the day’s play. Indian captain Dhruv Jurel won the toss on the beautiful pitch of Galle and without any hesitation decided to bat first. Openers Sai Sudarshan and Ayush Pandey started the innings. Both of them played cautiously and gave a steady start to the team. Although Ayush Pandey became the victim of Dilum Sudira after scoring 25 runs in 64 balls with the help of 3 fours, but at the other end, Sai Sudarshan continued to give class to the Lankan bowlers.

Sai Sudharsan showed amazing control in his batting. He sent the loose balls of the opposition bowlers across the boundary and played a very beautiful century of 132 runs with the help of 19 fours in just 175 balls. He was caught out by Chamika Gunasekara at the hands of Dulaj Samudita, but by then he had given India the foundation of a big score.

middle order wobble
Devdutt Padikkal, who came to the crease after the dismissal of opener Ayush Pandey, adopted an aggressive stance as soon as he came. He scored 12 runs in just 7 balls by hitting 1 four and 1 six, but Dilum Sudira gave the second blow to India by getting him out LBW. After this, experienced Ruturaj Gaikwad came to the crease. Gaikwad along with Sudarshan took the innings forward, but he could not prolong his innings. After scoring 22 runs in 53 balls, Ravindu Fernando dismissed him LBW and showed him the way to the pavilion. India-A, which was looking strong at one time, had lost its 4 wickets early and Sri Lanka-A was trying to make a comeback in the match.

Strong partnership between Jurel and Rashid
When the Indian innings looked to be in a bit of trouble after the dismissal of Sudarshan, then captain Dhruv Jurel and Sheikh Rashid took charge. Together, both of them bravely faced the Lankan spinners and fast bowlers. Batting responsibly, the captain scored unbeaten 68 runs with the help of 5 fours in 138 balls. He is taking the innings forward by remaining very calm. From the other end, Rashid supported the captain very well. Rashid has added 53 unbeaten runs in 92 balls with the help of 4 fours. By the end of the first day’s play, there was an excellent half-century partnership between the two and both remained at the crease.

Struggle of Sri Lankan bowlers
The first day on the Galle pitch was very tiring for the Sri Lanka A bowlers. Dilum Sudira was the most successful bowler, taking 2 wickets for 98 runs in 29 overs. Apart from this, Ravindu Fernando took 1 wicket for 87 runs in 22 overs and Chamika Gunasekara took 1 wicket for 50 runs in 10 overs. Captain Sahan Arachchige and other bowlers were seen yearning for wickets. Sri Lankan bowlers also showed some lack of discipline and gave away a total of 21 extra runs including 13 no-balls.