2017 West Asian Baseball Cup

The 2017 West Asian Baseball Cup was the fourth West Asian Baseball Cup. It was held in Islamabad, Pakistan from February 25 to March 1, 2017. Participating teams were  Pakistan,  Iraq,  Nepal,  Sri Lanka and  Iran.  India had to withdraw late due to visa issues. The winner, Sri Lanka, qualified for the 2017 Asian Championship and won a baseball tournament for the first time. It was announced afterwards that the runner-up ( Pakistan) would also get a spot in the Asian Championships, which expanded from six teams in 2015 to eight in 2017.

February 25

•  Pakistan 16,  Nepal 1. Nepal makes its debut in an international tournament with an expected rout at the hands of the hosts and defending champions.

February 26

•  Nepal 13,  Iraq 3. Nepal wins its first international contest as manager/P Iswar Thapa fans 19 and scored twice.

•  Sri Lanka 23,  Iran 0.

February 27

•  Pakistan 25,  Iraq 0. Faqir Hussain and Arsalan Jamshed each score four in a romp as Pakistan.

February 28

•  Pakistan 11,  Iran 0. Pakistan tops Iran in 7 innings in the semifinals in their closest game yet, while three of their players were injured by hit pitches.

•  Sri Lanka 11,  Nepal 0. Sri Lanka wins the other semifinal, by a similar margin.

March 1

•  Iran 10,  Nepal 6. In the Bronze Medal game, Iran tops Nepal in the closest game yet for the Cup.

•  Sri Lanka 4,  Pakistan 2. After outscoring the opposition 42-1 in the first three games, the hosts are stunned in the championship game by Sri Lanka (which had a 34-0 edge in their two games), ending their run of titles as Sri Lanka became the second nation to win a West Asian Baseball Cup. It was 2-2 after 7 before Sri Lanka pulled ahead.

Pakistan's teams includes Muhammad Usman, Zafir Afrdi, Arsalan Jamshed, Waseem Ali, Muhammad Rafi, Riaz Khan, Faqir Hussain, captain Muhammad Sumair Zawar, Umair Imdad Bhatti, Muhammad Majeed, Amin Afridi, Muhammad Usama, Muhammad Waseem and Fazal Khan.

Sri Lanka had Ashan Weerasekara, Sahan Avishka, Sameera Rathnayake, Sandan, Aruna, captain Akalanka Ranasinghe, Saliya, Dilina and Subash.

Nepal's team had manager-player Iswar Thapa, Anil Paniyar, Jeewan?Neewan? Nath, Achir Karki, Rajesh Basnet, Binod Koirala, Thepa.

Iraq's squad included Jaffar Hussain, Mustafa Layth, Mohamed Abdul Wahab Ali and Martatha Sultan