Kathmandu, June 30

Sri Lankan Lions defeated Bangladesh Tigers by 33 runs under Duckworth-Lewis method to advance to qualifiers of the Asian Club Premier League here at the Tribhuvan University Stadium today.

With the win, Lions finished second in the six-team standing on better net run rate after they were tied on six points with the Tigers. Nepal Storm, who accumulated eight points, finished at the top of the table. Dubai Warriors, who were tied on four points with Afghanistan Bulls, also made it to the qualifiers as the fourth team on better net run rate.

In the match affected by the rain, Lions scored 138-8 in their allotted 20 overs after electing to bat first. Tigers got to bat just 18 overs because of the rain, reaching 91-6. They were nicely cruising at 48-1 in nine overs when the rain stopped the match. Chasing the revised target of 124 runs in 18 overs, the Tigers faltered.

Tigers’ Sanjog Binkar scored 22 off 32 and Anku Dubey added 17 off 16. Malintha Hettiarachchi (2-13) and Akash Goutal (2-21) shared four wickets between them, while Kartik Guruveti took one wicket.

Earlier, Lions posted the fighting total after Akash Goutal scored 31-ball 49 and Dinesh Nakrani added 25-ball 31. Mohd Karim took 3-13 for Tigers and Vicky Chauhan and Sanjog Binkar claimed one wicket each for Tigers. Lions will now face Nepal Storm in the first qualifier match on Saturday.

A total of six franchise-based teams are taking part in the tournament organised by India-based United Sports Management.