Iran bounced back from their opening loss against India to defeat Sri Lanka 3-2 in the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Nations League at the National Sports Council covered hall in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu on Friday.

But the Iranians had to survive a scare from Sri Lanka who fought back from two sets down to win the third set and the fourth set to push the game to the fifth set.

Iran had lost their opener to the Indians 25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-11 and needed a victory to boost their semi-finals hopes.

And they thought they were heading for a comfortable victory when they claimed the first two sets 25-20 and 25-12.

But the Lankans, who lost their opening match to Nepal 25-19, 25-18, 25-19, showed a remarkable fighting spirit to win the third and the fourth set 25-22 and 25-13, setting up a thrilling encounter.

Sri Lanka were leading the final set by two points at a time but eventually ran out of gas and surrendered the battle to Iran 15-11.

Meanwhile, India sounded warning ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster clash against Nepal with a comfortable 25-6, 25-11, 25-10 victory over the Maldives.

A second win in as many matches gave them six points and a position in the summit of the five-team standings.

Nepal have three points from one game.

Iran have two points from two matches, while Sri Lanka have one.

The top four teams at the end of the single-round robin league will progress to the semi-finals where the group winners take on the fourth placed team and the second ranked side challenge the country finishing in the third position.

The final is scheduled for August 7.