No surprises today despite Nepal's promising start with the ball. Babar and Iftikhar took the game firmly in the hosts' grasp. Pakistan's bowling was clinical and it gives them a solid net run rate. Join us tomorrow for Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh in Pallekelle. Goodbye for now from me, Ekanth, my report-writing co-commentator, Hemant Brar, and our scorers, Thilak Rama and K Vairavan.

Babar Azam, Pakistan captain and POTM: (On the phases of his innings) When I went in, I played myself in for a couple of balls. Ball wasn't coming on, pitch was two-paced. Rizwan and I built a partnership and see what happened. Then, there were different phases. Sometimes, Rizwan gave me confidence and vice-versa. When Iftikhar came, we played different cricket. He can struggle a bit before he gets set. I asked him to play his natural game. After two-three fours, he was comfortable. He smacked it after 40 overs. (On bowling performance) I'm satisfied. A couple of overs we were not up to the mark. Pacers started well, spinners struck too. This game was good preparation for the India game because it gave us confidence. We want to give 100% every match, hope to do that there as well.

Mustafa Moudi : "Even before the India-Pakistan encounter, Babar's side have already defeated Rohit's Team tonight!!"

Arish: "5 wickets from the pacers, 5 wickets from the spinners"

Rohit Paudel, Nepal Captain: We started well. We restricted them to under 240 with the ball but let ourselves down with the bat. Wicket-taking balls weren't there in the middle overs, credit goes to Babar and their team as well. Learning from the game is we need to improve in the death overs, and we need to do well with the ball.

8:54pm: A 238-run win for Pakistan to start the tournament. Fireworks go off over the ground. Crowd are happy. A clinical performance with the ball from the hosts. Shaheen and Naseem sliced through the top order early. The conditions were tough on the body for the bowlers. But they persevered. Haris was destructive with his pace. Shadab ended up with a four-for. Fakhar's catch to dismiss Gulsan was a highlight. In the end, the hosts picked up two points and will take a healthy net run rate.

Slip, leg slip in

Mudassar : "Who is Marshalling the team in Babars Absence?" Rizwan