Watch: Ashok Sharma's one-handed stunner dismisses Ishaq— IND A vs AFG A Tri Series 2026

After two successive defeats against Sri Lanka A and Afghanistan A during the Tri Series 2026 at the Rangiri International Cricket Stadium in Dambulla, India A needed a vital win over Afghanistan A to stay alive in the qualification for the final. And they showed some tremendous fielding performance to keep the pressure on the opposition side, including Ashok Sharma’s one-handed, stunning catch.

The Tilak Varma-led side couldn’t do well in the previous contest when they faced a nervy super over defeat against Sri Lanka in the darkness. Quite interestingly, they decided to leave their inform pacer, Arshad Khan, for this encounter to bring Anshul Kamboj in that spot of the playing XI.

Ashok Sharma flies to his right for a stunning one-handed blinder to dismiss Mohammad Ishaq

It was the fourth delivery of the 32nd over of the second innings when Ashok Sharma, the substitute fielder, grabbed a superb one-handed diving catch to send back the Afghanistan batter, Mohammad Ishaq, on 16 runs. 

Watch Ashok Sharma's superb catch here- 

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Yash Thakur banged the ball short just outside the off stump as Ishaq looked to use the pace of the bowler and lapped it down towards the third man region. He hit the ball a lot more square, but failed to get the expected elevation. The ball looked to be dropping in no man’s land all the time.

See Also: Who is Ashok Sharma? Gujarat Titans’ new pacer makes dream IPL debut against PBKS

But Ashok was in no mood to deny a try. He sprinted to his left, threw himself at the ball, got both hands, and completed an absolute blinder of a one-handed catch. He ensured that the ball didn’t touch the ground as he completed the action.

The third umpire, after a few replays, ruled the batter out in the IND A vs AFG A Tri Series 2026 as Ashok Sharma’s one-handed catch brought Mohammad Ishaq’s dismissal. That wicket had a massive effect on the Imran Mir-led side during the India A vs Afghanistan A clash.

India A get a 101-run win to seal their Tri Series 2026 final spot

Having put into bat first during the Tri Series 2026, India A posted a strong score of 319 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their allotted 50 overs. Their opener, Priyansh Arya, smashed 58 runs off 42 balls at a strike rate of 138.10, thanks to nine boundaries and one six.

Even their captain, Tilak Varma, and their wicket-keeper batter, Kumar Kushagra, drilled their respective half-centuries in the middle order. All of their top five got starts but failed to convert them into three figures. Vipraj Nigam clubbed 30 runs off 20 balls in the lower order.

See Also: Watch: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's jaw-dropping diving catch sends Afghanistan batter packing for 13

In reply, Afghanistan A got bundled out for 218 runs in 36.5 overs. Only Bahir Shah smashed a half-century as none of the other batters could convert the starts into a big score. India A’s 101-run win qualified them for the final of the Tri Series 2026 at the same venue on June 21.

Follow live scorecard of India A vs Afghanistan A in Tr Series 2026-

India A 319/9 (Tilak Varma 59, Priyansh Arya 58, Abdullah Ahmadzai 2/62) beat Afghanistan A 218 (Bahir Shah 57, Nishant Sindhu 4/31) by 101 runs.