2019 West Asia Baseball Cup

The 2019 West Asia Baseball Cup was the fifth West Asian Baseball Cup. It was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from July 15 to July 20, 2019. At stake were two spots in the 2019 Asian Championship. For the first time, Pakistan was not the host of the event. Sri Lanka defended its title from 2019 to prove 2017 was not a fluke.

Games[edit]

Pakistan 11, Iran 1. Saddiq Afridi got the win as Pakistan cruises in the opener, with 3 runs by RF Ubaid Ullah. Abtin Nakhjavanpour took the loss, while SS Jalal Farahi had Iran's only run.
Sri Lanka 2, India 1. The hosts struggled in their opener, needing 11 innings to top India. Sri Lanka's Sugath De Silva and India's Akashay Avhad traded goose eggs for the first five innings. Sasika Dulshan got the win in relief for Sri Lanka, while 2B Sahan Gunasekara drove both runs for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka 13, Nepal 0. Rain cut this one short after five with several pitchers combining for a one-hitter for the hosts. Bimal Lamichhane took the loss, while SS Iresh Kosala led a balanced offense (2 R, 2 RBI) while Sri Lanka took advantage of nine errors by Nepal.
Pakistan 17, Bangladesh 0. Bangladesh makes their international debut and is, as expected, little match for Pakistan. Arshad Mahmood got the win as four Pakistani hurlers combine on a two-hitter in a mercy rule-shortened five-inning game. Veteran CF Muhammad Sumair Zawar had two RBI for Pakistan while seven players had two runs and their other three position players used each scored once.

India 8, Nepal 0. Nepal's game is again limited to five innings by rain. Suraj Singh went the distance with 8 whiffs on a two-hitter, while he got a balanced attack behind him. Iswor Thapa took the loss.
Iran 8, Bangladesh 4. Bangladesh's second game goes much better than the first, but Iran beat them for the last semifinals spot. Abdus Chowdhury took the loss to Amir Bazhvand. LF Mehdi Masoumi has two runs and two RBI for Iran.

Sri Lanka 10, Iran 2. Sri Lanka easily moved to the finals as Rumesh Lasantha excelled in relief (4 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 7 K) for the win. SS Iresh Kosala had 3 runs and 2 RBI, DH Asanka Lakmal drove in three and CF Sameera Rathnayake had three hits. Mohammad Safdari took the loss for Iran.
Pakistan 13, India 2. As expected, Pakistan also moved to the finals. LF Fazal Ur Rehman had 3 hits and 3 runs, 3B Faqir Hussain drove in four and Muhammad Amjad Aslam got the win.

Bangladesh 11, Nepal 4. Bangladesh won the 5th/6th place game. Tanmoy Das not only won the game but helped his own cause with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Rajesh Basnet took the loss, while 3B Subash Bohara had two hits for Nepal.
India 8, Iran 1. India won the 3rd/4th place game as Akashay Avhad turned in another gem (13 K, 3 H) in a complete game win. LF Vikas Sharma was 3 for 3 with 3 runs. btin Nakhjavan took the loss.
Sri Lanka 5, Pakistan 4. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan as in 2017 to show they could keep pace with the team that won the first three West Asian Baseball Cups. Sri Lanka jumped on Muhammad Usman for 3 in the first. CF Sameera Rathnayake drove in 3 and played fine defense while Sasika Dulshan, the Cup MVP, allowed 3 runs (1 earned) in 7 1/3 IP for the win. RF Ubaid Ullah drove in two for Pakistan.