Match Details

AFG vs SL 3rd ODI, AFG vs SL 2024

267-335.2

Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets 🏆

AFG

48.2266-10

Match info

Live

Scorecard

Player of the Match

Pathum Nissanka

Sri Lanka

118(101)

SL - 2nd Innings

Session	Open	PASS
10 Over	57	83
15 Over	109	105
20 Over	134	144
25 Over	173	187
30 Over	217	232

AFG - 1st Innings

Session	Open	PASS
10 Over	50	64
20 Over	114	108
30 Over	153	166
35 Over	191	196
40 Over	227	224
50 Over	302	266

Commentary

Time to wrap up our coverage, too, folks! After winning the one-off Test, Sri Lanka dumped Afghanistan in all three matches of the ODI series to clean-sweep the series, and now both sides will shift their focus to the 3-match T-20I series starting on February 17th.

For now, this is Deepak Prakash taking your leave on behalf of co-commentator Akshay Bhide and scorer/analyst Ashok Dayma. Stay tuned to our network for cricket extravaganzas all around the globe. CHEERS!

Kusal Mendis collects the trophy 🏆 and joins his teammates for the photographs. 📸

Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka Captain): "I am very happy that we won the series, especially considering we achieved it without Maheesh and Wanindu. Akila Dananjaya and Dunith Wellalage's remarkable performances instilled confidence in our team's depth. Playing on favorable pitches throughout this series has been satisfying. While the next World Cup is a few years away in South Africa, this marks the beginning of our preparation.

Our batters showcased excellent form consistently throughout the series, which is highly encouraging. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the supportive crowd, as well as to the curators and pitch maintenance team who ensured we had the surfaces we desired."

Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan Captain): "The result didn't go our way, but Sri Lanka showcased exceptional cricket across all facets throughout the series, so congratulations to them. Regarding our performance, we fell short of capitalizing on opportunities in the last ten overs of our batting innings. Certainly, the absence of Rashid and Mujeeb was felt throughout the series. I hope for their swift recovery and return for the upcoming matches.

They (Rashid and Mujeeb) are integral parts of our team, and their presence would have likely boosted our performance. I'll not be a part of the T20I series, I wish the best of luck to the team."

Pathum Nissanka (Player of the Match & Series): "I didn't know about the records (Fastest Lankan batters to score 2000 runs) but I am delighted to achieve it. I'm thankful to my father, who served as my initial coach. We found ourselves on a favorable wicket for batting, and Avishka and I capitalized on our strong start, maintaining that momentum throughout."

Player of the Series: Pathum Nissanka

Player of the Match: Pathum Nissanka

Time for the presentation....

9:18 PM IST, Local Time: Sheer dominance by Sri Lanka as they dump Afghanistan by 7 wickets and more than 14 overs to spare and clean sweep the 3-match ODI series. A tough series for Afghanistan, who were good in patches but failed to perform in the crunch situations.

Earlier, Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bat first. They began strongly, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz hitting four boundaries in the opening over. Despite Ibrahim Zadran's early run-out, Gurbaz continued aggressively after being dropped on 22. Rahmat Shah joined him, forming a solid partnership of 57 runs before Gurbaz fell short of his fifty. Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai briefly steadied the innings, but it was Shah and Omarzai who anchored it further with a 58-run stand.

Shah reached his fifty before being dismissed on 65, followed by Ikram Alikhil's departure on 32. Despite Omarzai's fifty, Afghanistan struggled towards the end, failing to complete their allotted overs and finishing at 266 in 48.2 overs. Pramod Madushan shone with the ball for Sri Lanka, claiming three wickets, while Asitha Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, and Akila Dananjaya claimed two each, contributing to Sri Lanka's strong bowling performance.

In pursuit of 266 runs, Sri Lanka got off to a rollicking start as Avishka Fernando and Pathum Nissanka scored at a rapid pace from the word go and hammered the Afghani bowlers all around the park. Afghanistan toiled hard to break this partnership but faced stubborn resistance from the other end as both openers notched up their half-centuries on the occasion.

Finally, Qais Ahmad trapped Avishka Fernando for 91 runs and denied the century, but the pair had already added 173 runs by then. Nissanka paired up with Kusal Mendis and continued his merry ways, notching up his fifth century on the occasion. Also, Nissanka reached his 2000 ODI runs in the process, the fastest Lankan batter to reach 2000 runs. Mendis also looked in sublime touch and scored at a rapid pace, but fell 10 runs short of his fifty. Eventually, Nissanka perished for 118 runs, falling prey to Qais Ahmad. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka paired up in the middle and helped their side win by 7 wickets with more than 14 overs to spare.

Qais Ahmad claimed a couple of wickets for Afghanistan, while Nabi contributed a solitary wicket.

Stick around for the presentations....

35.2 M Nabi to S Samarawickrama

4 FOUR! That's it, Sri Lanka win by 7 wickets and more than 14 overs to spare! Over the wicket. Tossed up on the stumps. Samarawickrama walks down the track and flicks it to deep mid-wicket region for a boundary to finish the match. Sri Lanka clean sweep the 3-match ODI series.

35.1 M Nabi to C Asalanka

1 Around the wicket. Length delivery angling into the stumps. Asalanka gets the leading edge of the bat rolling down to short third man for a single.

OVER 35

Sri Lanka

262/3

Sadeera Samarawickrama

4(4)

Charith Asalanka

6(12)

Qais Ahmad

2-46(7.0)

34.6 Q Ahmad to C Asalanka

1 Flighted leg break on the leg stump line. Asalanka flicks it in front of square for a single to end the over.

34.5 Q Ahmad to C Asalanka

0 Drags the length back on the stumps. Asalanka drags it to short mid-wicket for none.

34.4 Q Ahmad to C Asalanka

0 Good length delivery outside off. Asalanka leaves it alone.