Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, 3rd ODI at Hambantota, SL v AFG, Jun 07 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary

And with that it's a wrap from us, and an end to a hard fought series, even if this last game was more one-sided than anyone could have imagined. Up next for Sri Lanka are the World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe starting in a little over a week, while Afghanistan will regroup ahead of a series against Bangladesh. But till then it's goodbye from us, on behalf of Shashwat and the rest of team, it's been a pleasure! Though don't go too far cos there's quite a bit of cricket left today, cos the small matter of the World Test Championship final will begin in less than an hour! So be sure to tune in for that.

Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka: "After going down 1-0 in the series it was very special to wrap it up today. Dimuth has been outstanding over the last few years, so he has a lot more to offer Sri Lanka Cricket. These couple of games we played as a group, and showed exactly what we could do. Especially Chameera and Kumara how they started today, especially how the wicket was. They showed a lot of character, and I hope they will carry this on to the qualifiers."

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi: "Today was a bad day for our batters, but it happens in cricket. It was a good batting wicket, but we lost early wickets because of bad shot selection. We need to improve in our batting, we have a series with Bangladesh so we will work harder. Ibrahim has been doing very well in the past year, so I hope he continues. The positives were definitely Ibrahim and some of the bowlers as well."

Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards go to Dushmantha Chameera: "Feel happy to be back after surgery. I worked hard on my fitness and bowling. First match there was a little bit of pressure having played after 10 months, but I was okay after the first over and got into my rhythm."

1.55pm Alright time for the presentations...

Palinda: "Afganistan performance in the world cup should closely monitor and decide the future of world cup supee leauge. Most of times their opponent was an associate nation while others have bilateral series with rankings higher up the order. I think selection for the world cup should be done based on rankings." Don't think it's as much a problem with the Super League as much as it is with the current state of the future tours program.

Lots of parallel thinking regarding the timing of this finish.

nuka: "Did SL team plan this .Prefect timing now we can switch to ICC World Test Championship Final. "

Shamil Akbar: "Both teams wanted to finish the game quickly, in time for the World Test Championship finals!"

HMasoom: "Sri Lankan batters were in hurry to watch WTC Final" Ha! And the Afghan batters too, perhaps!

Thanks Shashwat, anti-climactic indeed! Biggest takeaway for the hosts has to be that Chameera looked to be gearing up close to his best. Keeping him fit will be crucial to any Sri Lankan hopes in the coming months. For Afghanistan, they showed what they were capable of in that first game, but as with Sri Lanka, consistency is key at this level.

Here is Madushka to take you through the post-match presentation!

1:41pm Wow, that was anti-climactic, not in terms of the result today but considering how this occasion was set up, with the series being deadlocked. Afghanistan never turned up; Sri Lanka did.

Nissanka was the star of the show in the second innings, scoring a 32-ball fifty. Karunaratne was at his serene best at the other end, notching up his second successive ODI half-century. Earlier in the day, Chameera picked up a four-wicket haul. Hasaranga bagged three as well, with Kumara being just as impressive with the new ball.

All in all, this was the perfect display that Sri Lanka would have asked for - almost all of their components functioned optimally today. As for Afghanistan, this is a day they would want to forget very quickly.

Just two runs needed now. Can Karunaratne finish it off this ball?

We have a review ongoing for an lbw. Googly on a length on middle and off stump that spins back sharply. Mendis is caught on the crease and plays all over it, getting pinged on the pads. The umpire says no but Afghanistan want to have another look. Oh, UltraEdge reckons Mendis has gotten a scratch to it. Mendis survives!