Nepal and Pakistan come out winners of Day Three

Nepal and Pakistan came out winners on the third day of the SAARC Twenty20. Nepal won a thriller against India and Pakistan came out easy winners against the Sri Lankan U25 side.

In the first match of the morning the Karnataka Institute of Cricket team won the toss as made 218 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs.  Nishanth Singh made a good start at the top making 43 runs. However wickets kept falling at the other end until Rahul Bhatkal came in and made solid fourth wicket  partnership with Nishanth which ended with the departure of Nishanth who was bowled by Prithu Baskota. Bhatkal stood large against the Nepalese attack and was left stranded on 99 runs as they ran out of overs. Paras Khadhka took 3 wickets for 26 runs for Nepal.

Khadhka followed up his excellent bowling with a match winning 63 runs down the order.  Mahesh Kumar (26) and Anil Mandal (31)  started the Nepalese innings well, but it was Khadka and Malla who took the team home with some big flourishes of the bat.  Malla made 67 runs not out. The Nepalese made up the deficit in the 19^th over.  Khadkha was adjudged man of the match for his fine bowling and match winning innings.

In the second match of the day, the much anticipated encounter between Sri Lanka and Pakistan turned out as a one sided affair as Pakistan won the encounter by 7 wickets. The Sri Lankan U25 team batted first and made 157 runs in their 20 overs. Angelo Perera top scored with 41 runs. Some fast and accurate bowling from the Pakistan pace men were their main undoing as Asad Ali picked up 4 wickets for 28 runs.

In reply, Pakistan made 158 runs in 14.1 overs with Nasir Jamshaid making 97 runs from 44 balls. He was bowled on the last ball of the innings needing 3 runs for his century. Awais Zia made 40 runs and the Pakistan’s made up the deficit in 14.1 overs to secure a semi-finals top spot from Group 2.  Nasir Jamshaid was adjudged man of the match.