The home fans were ecstatic as Santosh Sahukhala’s left-footed strike found the net in the seventh minute of the match. However, the joy was short-lived as Sri Lanka’s EB Chana scored through a freekick after Dipendra Shrestha´s assault on a Lankan player was deemed illegal by the referee.
Sri Lanka went on to add two more goals through Chathura Gunaratne, out of which one slipped through after taking a deflection off Santosh Nepali three minutes later. Gunaratne added the third in the 68th to take the match out of Nepal´s reach.
Nepali players showed sign of rustiness as they could not co-ordinate their passing movements and Nepali´s headed goal off a Deepak Bhusal freekick in the 73rd proved no more than a consolation.
Nepal’s flickering hopes to salvage a draw received a fatal blow in the dying moments of the match as Sahukhala´s shot hit the upright. This was enough to disappoint the home fans who started to move out before the match officially came to an end.
Two players from the Sri Lankan side were booked for foul play while a player from was shown a yellow card.
Nepal (Red) will play Bangladeshi outfit Aram Bag in its first match on Friday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurated the tournament amidst a ceremony.
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