Nepal ripped through Sri Lanka´s top and middle order batting making it 42/7 before the tailenders saved the gold medal favorites from embarrassment. Earlier, Nepal had scored 72 in their 20 overs.[break]
The eighth-wicket partnership of 14 runs and the ninth-wicket partnership of 17 runs for Sri Lanka dashed Nepal´s hopes of making it to the semifinals.
Jeevnatha Kulatunga (20) made some runs in the top order while tailenders Dilhara Lokuhettige (10 runs off 13 balls), Sajeewa Weerakoon (unbeaten 13 off 17) and Kaushalya Lakuarachchi (unbeaten 9 off 18) remained firm to deny Nepal an epic victory.
Amrit Bhattarai bowled exceptionally well early on to grab two wickets for just 10 runs in his four overs. Paras Khadka and Basanta Regmi also claimed two wickets each, while Rahul Vishwakarma got a wicket for Nepal.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and elected to bat first. Gyanendra Malla with a run-a-ball 30 and captain Paras Khadka (18 off 24) made some noteworthy contributions while the remaining batsmen faltered against a top-class Sri Lankan bowling.
Nepal lost their last eight wickets for just 21 runs after the cameos from Gyanendra and Paras as Sri Lanka turned the game back in their favor from a stage when a score of 100 was looking like a distinct possibility for Nepal.
For Sri Lanka, captain Jehan Mubarak led the bowling attack with 3/6 in three overs while Lokuhettige took two wickets.
Nepali captain Khadka said that the pitch did not help in batting. "The bowlers stood up; the pitch was not that great for batting. We could have scored 20 more runs.
But we have lots of positives to take from this match because one wicket here and there would have made a big difference," said Khadka.
"Today (Wednesday), everyone raised their game to the highest level playing against a Test nation," added Khadka.
Incidentally, this was the last match for Sri Lankan coach Roy Luke Dias with the Nepali team as the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has already decided to replace him.
Sri Lanka now meet Bangladesh in the semifinal while Afghanistan play Pakistan in the other semifinal.
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