The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
Thanks a lot for joining us- Mohul Bhowmick, Bidipto Datta and Pradeep- for this exciting but rather lopsided game between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in the third ODI of the bilateral series. Don't go anywhere and hop tabs to follow the WTC final beginning an hour or so from now. Until next time, though, goodbye and see you!
Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka captain): Dimuth is a fantastic player. He keeps getting better, and this is very good for Sri Lankan cricket. Today, the pitch was a belter. Kumara and Chameera did extremely well with the ball today. Outsiders asked a lot of questions about them, but they showcased how good they are with their performance today. It is up to the selectors and coaches to make sure who gets on the flight to India, but we are doing well. Things are falling into place at the moment, and we hope to keep doing well.
Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan captain): [About capitulating under pressure with the bat] It's not a concern, we lost early wickets and that put us under pressure, it happens in cricket and today it happened to us. Still a good batting wicket, we lost early wickets, poor shot selection and that put us under pressure. We need to bounce back with the bat, there's a series coming up against Bangladesh, work harder and come back stronger. Ibrahim is doing very well in the last 12 months, he's our main player and we're expecting him to do well in the Asia Cup and World Cup.
Dushmantha Chameera is the Player of the Match and also the Player of the Series [6 wickets]! Here's what he has to say: Feels happy after the surgery with this performance, worked hard on my fitness, wanted to come back well. I was under a bit of pressure int he first game but then picked up my rhythm later on. Wicket was a touch slow, we grabbed the advantage and performed.
Sri Lanka gave Afghanistan a proper hiding here, first with the ball and now with the bat in hand. Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne made sure that no comeback was possible for the Afghans with the ball in hand and chased this total down in a canter.
Nissanka stroked a widely enjoyable half-century before he was dismissed by Gulbadin Naib in the eleventh over of this innings. However, he was instrumental in building a big partnership with his fellow opener Karunartane to quash any hopes of Afghanistan coming back into this game.
Wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Mendis came in at number three and did what he does best- score runs without too much of a fuss. Sri Lanka will be extremely pleased with themselves with their performance today and hope to build on it.
This win allows them to take home the series with a 2-1 win. Afghanistan will be extremely disappointed with their showing with the bat, and look to improve upon it. Such performances do not do justice to the immense talent that they have in their ranks.
Anti-climactic for Sri Lanka here! They win this game thanks to overthrows. Nothing has gone Afghanistan's way.
16
overs
120/1score
1
0
0
0
1
5
runs
Dimuth Karunaratne*
57(47)
Kusal Mendis
10(15)
Mohammad Nabi
0/20
15.6 Mohammad Nabi to Dimuth Karunaratne, IT'S ALL OVER! Sri Lanka thrash Afghanistan and take the series 2-1! Bit of an anti-climatic end to the innings but Sri Lanka won't mind. Length delivery on the off-stump, Karunaratne taps it into the off-side. Slight hesitation in taking the run and the fielder from point runs in, picks it up and fires the throw to the bowler's end, no one's backing up and that runs away to the boundary.
15.5 Mohammad Nabi to Kusal Mendis, drags it short on the stumps, Mendis went back and punched it to long-on for one.
15.4 Mohammad Nabi to Kusal Mendis, slides the length delivery on the stumps, Mendis turns it to short mid-wicket fielder for no run.
15.3 Mohammad Nabi to Kusal Mendis, drops it short on the fourth stump, Mendis went back and defends it into the on-side.
Afghanistan tried to take this review like a drowning man flailing to get out of water...
15.2 Mohammad Nabi to Kusal Mendis, LOUD SHOUT FOR LBW, NOT GIVEN! That's clearly sliding down leg and Afghanistan reviews this. Floated a length delivery on the leg-stump, Mendis lunges to clip it to misses and that thuds on the pad. UltraEdge confirms no bat involved. Ball tracking has WICKETS MISSING!
Just three runs needed now!
15.1 Mohammad Nabi to Dimuth Karunaratne, short on the fourth stump, Karunaratne sat back and cuts it past the cover point region for one.
Karunaratne reaches his fifty for the second consecutive time in the series. He has made sure that there were no hiccups for Lanka while chasing this total down.
15
overs
113/1score
0
1
0
1
1
1
runs
Dimuth Karunaratne*
50(43)
Kusal Mendis
10(13)
Rashid Khan
0/21
14.6 Rashid Khan to Dimuth Karunaratne, FIFTY FOR KARUNARATNE! Consecutive fifties for Karunaratne. Length delivery on the off-stump, Karunaratne clipped it around the corner for one and brings up his fifty.
Karunatne can do it with one hit!
14.5 Rashid Khan to Kusal Mendis, they are dealing this in singles now, length delivery outside the off-stump. Mendis leans and pushes it down to long-off for another single.