SL VS AFG - 3rd ODI, Afghanistan tour of Sri Lanka, 2023

Sri Lanka have thumped Afghanistan in the last two ODIs. Will keep them in good stead going forward. Dimuth's return to the ODI fold has allowed Nissanka to be the free spirited batter he is. Mendis at three adds a lot of meat. There is the experience of Mathews and power of Asalanka and Shanaka. Not to miss the mercurial DDS. Not a bad batting line up going forward. Their bowling also looked very decent. The pacers hitting the right straps would increase their chances at the qualifiers. Afghanistan will meet Bangladesh next whereas Sri Lanka go on to play the qualifiers. On that note, we will take a leave. See ya soon!

Dasun Shanaka: After being 1-0 down, coming here and wrapping it up was special. Dimuth has been outstanding in the last two years. He has lot more to offer for Sri Lankan cricket. We played as a group and showed what we can do. Chameera and Kumara set it up for us. Selectors showed the faith in them and they have showed what they can do. Always good to have selection headache.

Hashmatullah Shahidi: We had a bad day as batters. It happens in cricket. Still a good batting wicket. We lost early wickets. Some bad shot selections didn't help us. We need to improve. Specially in batting. We will work harder for the series against Bangladesh. Ibrahim has been doing good for the last one year. Hoping he will do good in Asia Cup and the World Cup.

Dushmantha Chameera, POTM and POTS: I feel happy. The last 8 months I have worked hard on my fitness. I had pressure. I was feeling better after the first over. Wicket was little bit slow.

13:42 Local Time, 08:12 GMT, 13:42 IST: Sri Lanka have won this in a hurry! They were chasing 117 and have done it in 16 overs. The openers especially Nissanka was off to a fast start and didn't slow down. He got a fifty before getting out. Karunaratne also got to his fifty and the annihilation for Afghanistan ended. Earlier, Chameera picked up a four-fer and that meant Afghanistan were shot out for 116. Sri Lanka would be very chuffed having beaten a very decent Afghanistan side ahead of the qualifiers. They were defeated very easily in the first game but have come back very strongly in the next two games. Chameera and Kumara's new ball form as well as Dimuth's return to the side would have helped the confidence of the Lankan side.

Nabi to Karunaratne, 5 runs, comedy of errors ends it! That was a tossed up delivery, turned away, Karunaratne got it off the soft leading edge into the off-side. The batters were a little confused before going through for a single. But the man running in on the off-side picked it up and came up with a poor throw. Five overthrows have ended the miseries for the visitors. Lanka win this by 9 wickets with 34 overs to spare Sri Lanka take the series 2-1

Nabi to Kusal Mendis, 1 run, on-drives the fuller ball down to long-on for a single

Nabi to Kusal Mendis, no run, tickled away on to the on-side as it spun in

Nabi to Kusal Mendis, no run, nudges the ball down on to the on-side

Nabi to Kusal Mendis, no run, well tossed up delivery, going down leg and Kusal Mendis missed the clip. Nabi asked his skipper to take the review but that didn't help. They have lost both reviews now. Just took the review for the sake of it

Another review. Again seemed was going down. Was a tossed up delivery, the batter missed the clip and was falling over. Don't think there is an edge on it. But might well be missing leg. Given not out. And it is missing the wickets.

Nabi to Karunaratne, 1 run, short ball, the batter goes back and chops it past point for a single. Three needed now to win

Rashid Khan to Karunaratne, 1 run, waits on it and nudges the ball down on to the on-side for a single. Fifty for Karunaratne and Lanka need only 4 runs now to win the series 2-1

Rashid Khan to Kusal Mendis, 1 run, want to do it in singles. Tossed up ball, push driven to long-off. 5 more to win this game

Rashid Khan to Karunaratne, 1 run, tossed up delivery, push driven down to long-off for a single. One shot needed now to win this

Rashid Khan to Karunaratne, no run, tucks it away fine but finds the man at short fine. Was a quicker one off the deck

Rashid Khan to Kusal Mendis, 1 run, nudges the ball behind square for a single as he waited on it

Rashid Khan to Kusal Mendis, no run, that was a googly. The batter went back and got an inside edge. Rashid went up and the skipper obliged to take a review. The inside edge was spotted and the review was lost

Afghanistan have gone up for a review. Was a googly and Kusal Mendis missed the tuck. Seems to be an inside edge.

Nabi to Karunaratne, FOUR, was a short ball, Karunaratne dropped back and pulled it wide of long-on for a four. Was hit well and into the gap. He moves to 48 now