DAV Chandigarh, Karachi University make winning starts

India's DAV College, Chandigarh defeated Australia's University of New South Wales by five wickets in the opening match of the Campus Cricket World Final tournament at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Chandigarh won the toss and put their opponents in to bat, grabbing 3 wickets for 39 runs in the Powerplay. Several New South Wales batsmen got starts, but were unable to reach 30 and the regular fall of wickets - with three run-outs - restricted the side to 124 for 8 in 20 overs. Gurinder Singh took 2 wickets for 16. In reply, Chandigarh lost opener Deepak Sharma early, but a second-wicket partnership of 45 runs between Jaskaran Singh and Simran Singh set their side on course for the target. Chandigarh lost three quick wickets after that partnership, but Gurinder Singh and Gaurav Tandon arrested the slide, hitting 25 and 21 respectively, to take their side past the target with an over to spare.

Sri Lanka's University of Moratuwa went down by 63 runs to Great Britain Combined University Team in the Group B opener. Put in to bat, Great Britain began well, with a sprightly 25 from Syed Fuad, before Harry Bush provided the biggest contribution of the innings, scoring 43 off 30 balls. No. 7 Jay O'Nien took his side past 160, with an unbeaten 28 from 10 deliveries that included three fours and two sixes. Vihangun Ariyaratne was the best of Moratuwa's bowlers, taking two wickets for 29. In reply, Josh Poysden and James Lomas took three wickets apiece as Morutawa crumbled. Only three batsmen made double-figure scores as the hosts slipped to 99 all out in 17 overs.

Pakistan's Karachi University inflicted another loss on University of New South Wales, defeating them in their second match by 26 runs. Karachi chose to bat first and made 161. Faraz Ali top-scored with an unbeaten 68 off 40 balls, injecting some urgency into the innings after Karachi struggled early on. He added 54 runs for the fifth wicket with Nabeel Khalid, who made 24 from 10 deliveries. Geoffrey Ashmore took two wickets for New South Wales, but conceded runs at an average of ten runs an over. A 73-run partnership between Brendon McLean, who made 45 off 24 balls and James McNeil (40 off 45 balls) revived New South Wales' innings, after they were floundering at 27 for 3 in the sixth over. However, the innings lost impetus after McLean's dismissal in the 15th over, and New South Wales managed only 135 for 7 from their 20 overs. Mirza Jamil took 2 wickets while Meer Hamza finished with 1 for 15.

University of Moratuwa also suffered their second loss of the day losing by eight wickets to University of Liberal Arts. Moratuwa's batting failed once more, as they posted 86 for 8 in 20 overs after batting first. Moratuwa's batsmen struggled as Arman Badsha, Tanmoy Roy and Asif Shazzad took two wickets apiece. Liberal Arts' openers ensured there would be no hiccups in the small chase, when they hit 57 in five overs. They were dismissed in quick succession a few runs short of the target and the middle-order batsmen took the side home in 9.3 overs.