Sai Sudharsan retired hurt, India A lead by 170 runs:Sri Lanka A score 330 runs on Day 3; Auqib Nabi shines with four wickets

India-A has further strengthened its grip on the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka-A. On the third day in Galle, the team took a 170-run lead and scored 48 runs without losing a wicket until stumps. Devdutt Padikkal and Ayush Pandey returned unbeaten. Opener Sai Sudharsan, who scored a century in the first innings, retired hurt after scoring only 7 runs due to injury. Sri Lanka-A’s first innings was restricted to 330 runs thanks to fast bowler Auqib Nabi’s 4 wickets. Earlier, India had declared their innings at 452/6. Auqib Nabi sent the lower-order batters back to the pavilion Sri Lanka-A resumed play on the third day from 113/2. Nuwanidu Fernando and Ashen Bandara shared a 105-run partnership for the third wicket. Fernando was dismissed by Yash Thakur for 84 runs. After this, captain Sahan Arachchige and Ashen Bandara steadied the team by adding 117 runs for the fourth wicket. Bandara scored 70 and Arachchige scored 72 runs. At one point, Sri Lanka-A’s score had crossed 300 runs, but after that, the Indian bowlers made a brilliant comeback. Auqib Nabi took four wickets out of the last five, wrapping up Sri Lanka-A’s innings for 330 runs. He took 4 wickets for 58 runs in 19.4 overs. Harsh Dubey and Yash Thakur got two wickets each. Sai Sudharsan injured, India’s worries increase India-A, who started their second innings with a lead of 122 runs, suffered an early setback. Sai Sudharsan, who scored a century in the first innings, got injured after scoring 7 runs in the fourth over and had to leave the field retired hurt. Padikkal and Ayush steadied the innings After Sai Sudarshan’s departure, Devdutt Padikkal and Chhattisgarh’s young batsman Ayush Pandey took charge. The duo added 48 runs without losing any wicket until the end of the day’s play. Both Padikkal and Ayush returned unbeaten with 20 runs each. India-A will now look to extend their lead beyond 250 runs on the fourth day and set a challenging target for Sri Lanka-A.