Sri Lanka 267 for 3 (Nissanka 118, Avishka 91, Qais 2-46) beat Afghanistan 266 (Rahmat 65, Omarzai 54, Madushan 3-45) by seven wickets
Sri Lanka made light work of a potentially tricky target of 267, running it down in just 35.2 overs as they completed a dominant seven-wicket win in the third and final ODI in Pallekele, and with it secured a 3-0 whitewash of the series.
Afghanistan did themselves few favours, straying short of a length for four of those five sixes as Avishka disdainfully picked them up over the leg side. His mistimed drive to extra cover saw him fall nine runs short of a fourth ODI ton, but by then Sri Lanka had piled on 173 runs – their second 150-plus opening stand of the series.
The onslaught though only continued following his dismissal as Nissanka duly upped his scoring rate and Kusal Mendis joined in on the festivities. Their stand of 78 came off just 55 deliveries, though neither was able to see the chase through to the finish, falling in quick succession.
That honour went to Charith Asalanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama, who ran down the 14 runs with little fuss as Sri Lanka won with 88 balls to spare.
Afghanistan for their part will rue a missed opportunity. Despite fifties from Rahmat Shah and Azmatullah Omarzai – and a blazing start from Rahmanullah Gurbaz – they lost 6 for 43 at the end to be bowled out for 266.
With the series wrapped up, Sri Lanka had brought in Dunith Wellalage and Akila Dananjaya for Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana. On a drier-than-usual surface, the pair proved able deputies and produced figures of 2 for 38 and 2 for 54 respectively. Asitha Fernando grabbed a pair as well, with Pramod Madushan being the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 45 in what was a well-rounded bowling display from the hosts.
In all it proved to be a frustrating outing for the Afghan batters, who were unable to build on a succession of promising starts. When Gurbaz struck Madushanka for four consecutive boundaries in the first over of the match, it seemed that Afghanistan were set to make amends for their poor batting effort in the last game. Sri Lanka however reeled in the visitors well, with just 65 runs allowed in the opening powerplay.
Wellalage and Madushan impressed during this period, giving away just 23 runs between them, and in turn made up for Madushanka’s uncharacteristic lack of control. The bowlers were also aided by some solid ground fielding, highlighted by Avishka’s excellent pick-up and throw to run out Ibrahim Zadran – a drop in the slips by Asalanka the very next ball off Gurbaz was a rare error in the field.
Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi had spoken before the match about the need to put on more partnerships, and in this respect Afghanistan delivered. Following an opening stand of 39, there were partnerships of 57, 58 and 57 for the second, fourth and fifth wickets respectively. Where they faltered however was in capitalising on these platforms.
Gurbaz, despite his fast start, was not able to keep up his scoring rate and fell sweeping – bowled around his legs – for an ultimately laboured 48 off 57. Shahidi followed shortly after, edging a Dananjaya googly to slip.
This brought Rahmat and Omarzai together and the pair sought to rebuild. Between the 20th and 30th overs they scored at a hair under run-a-ball to keep the scoring rate touching six an over, but just as they might have been looking to accelerate Rahmat was trapped leg before looking to sweep Wellalage.
While this did not halt Afghanistan, it did delay any potential period of acceleration. Omarzai and Ikram Alikhil proceeded to put on the third fifty-plus stand of the innings between the 30th and 40th overs, but then once more just as Afghanistan were on the cusp of upping the ante Sri Lanka struck. Alikhil was surprised by a Wellalage delivery that ripped back in from wide outside off to clip the outside of off stump.
From this point on Sri Lanka barely gave the opposition a sniff, with just 42 runs given away from the 40th over onwards. Madushan, Asitha and Dananjaya loomed large in this period, with the two fast bowlers sharing the last five wickets between them to close out the Afghan innings.
