8:13pm And that brings us to the end of our coverage for this ODI series. Lots of cricket lined up over the next few days - all of which can be found on ESPNcricinfo. Until next time, this is goodbye from Madushka, Raghav, Thilak and myself. Take care, everyone!

8pm A series that offered so much action and drama ends in a damp squib (quite literally, it must be said). Today was the first time NZ were batting first in the ODIs and they promised to put up a good total, until the rain came down, quashing away those hopes. Prior to that, Young had gotten to his ninth ODI fifty, with Nicholls, who has been short of runs lately, remaining unbeaten on 46, also looking pretty accomplished at the crease.

Shiraz was the only wicket-taker for the hosts, who remember, had made five changes for this match. The others did not really get enough time out in the middle to stake a claim and they will be ruing that missed opportunity. Overall, though, this was a good outing for Sri Lanka and with five ODI series wins this year, they will be hoping they can carry on the momentum in South Africa, albeit in a different format.

7:53pm Right. The umpires have officially pulled the plug on this. The third ODI has been called off, rain wins today and Sri Lanka win the series 2-0.

Rumesh Wijetung: "Some will question me for this, but Kusal Mendis has impressed me the most this year " -- Don't think so. He was impressive in the first ODI and took it up a notch in the second, battling injury and battling his natural instincts to take Sri Lanka home.

7:40pm Scratch that last update because...it has started raining again.

Janith Fernando: "I'd say Charith Asalanka - Captain leading from the front, getting runs, bowling crucial overs & feilding as well. Creating a good culture in the team."

7:30pm Finally some good news folks. The rain has stopped at the ground. Now, we wait...

Anon: "Dunith Wellalage has really impressed me. 142 runs at 35.5 and 10 wickets at 32.4. Player of the series against India as well."

Shenal: "Pathum Nissanka, easily. One of the most impressive in the world, not just Sri Lanka."

7pm The latest is that....it is still raining. In the meantime, do let us know which Sri Lankan cricketer has impressed you most this year in ODI cricket.

Mustafa Moudi: "Guess NZ wont get any further chance to bat again. Let SL Chase 160 in 21 overs !!" -- If that happens, and we only get a 20-over chase, SL will have to chase 177.

6:50pm Tilanlokka: "Still raining 1km away from the ground folks. I'm afraid"

Robbie : "The rain oft has a habit of doing what I tell it to (five to ten times in a hundred, if I were to estimate) so here goes the obligatory plea - go away, rain. " -- You gotta do what you gotta do to get some cricket in...

Laiya: "Rain, rain, please go away! We're eagerly waiting to witness Sri Lanka's young talents shine in the final match against New Zealand. Let's hope for clear skies and another thrilling performance. Come on, Lions!"

6:10pm Madushka has stepped away for a bit, and here I arrive, hoping that I can bring about a change in the weather (although I have never exercised that sort of power before).

6pm The rain has gotten a little harder now, looks like we'll be losing a fair few overs at this rate.

5.55pm It looks to be that kind of day folks, just five minutes away from an inspection a drizzle has started and now the covers are coming back on.

Saad tyagi Kute: "Which team will be happy with shortest game?" --- Considering they have 9 wickets in hand, NZ will be able to play the remaining overs (assuming we lose about 10 overs) as a viritual T20. That said, Sri Lanka in their chase will always have the luxury of knowing the DLS-target at any given point, so they can tailor their approach accordingly.

Inspection set for 6pm

Rajiv with more positive news: "I live nearby. No raining in last 30 mins or so... "

5.30pm The covers are now completely off. Hopefully we should have an update on restart time and lost overs soon.

Madhura : "I predicted this well before the actual worth of a mention," --- Yup, can vouch for this. Next, tell me the best FPL captain for this week.

5.18pm We've got good news! The rain has stopped and the covers are coming off.

4.55pm Nibraz Ramzan with a somewhat promising update: "living appropriately 9km's away the ground, here the rain has eased off. hoping for some good news at Pallekelle as well. "

4.45pm Ashish: "Provide an update every half an hour guys!!" --- Very well. It's raining hard in Colombo now as well.

Walt: "NZ finally start putting together a decent partnership from the top order on this tour, and the rain interrupts it! Typical. " --- A rare opportunity of late as well for Sri Lanka's bowlers to test themselves on a better batting surface.

Udana: "its not a rain. its a tunderstorm. don't think match will be started soon. might be a 25 overs a side game end of the day. "

KiwiTiger: "Now take an amateur guess on the DLS target then UwU" --- I became a cricket writer to avoid the need for such mathematics in my life, thank you very much.

Jarnel D: "This rain looks awful, what time will we need to start for Sri Lanka to get a 20 over chase?" --- My amateur guess would be roughly around 9pm local time.

Saeed: "Does it ever not rain in Sri Lanka? Don't think this is the monsoon season" --- One of the questions I've been asking myself more and more as of late.

David Cousins : "Are they going to have their dinner break while it rains?" --- Only if play doesn't resume for a couple of hours yet. Though I suspect a cheeky tea wouldn't be out of the question.

Manoj: "This is the 4th series involving NZ that has been hampered by rains at some point or the other. Someone check their check-in luggage and see if they are carrying clouds or something. " --- There's been rain around most of the country lately, Manoj. Think this one, at least, can be taken off the Black Caps' conscience.

Thanks Shashwat, and sad to say the online weather forecast doesn't really bring positive tidings. Hopefully it'll clear up around the stadium at least, so as to allow us even a truncated game.

4:15pm The entire ground has been covered and the rain is still falling. Here's Madushka for a bit of rain-watch now.

KiwiTiger: "How long is the cutoff before we start losing overs? In such case, how'd the DLS target shape up?" -- No official word on the cutoff time, but we should have a buffer of around 60 minutes, at least. In short, there is enough time for this downpour to pass over, for the ground to be dried out and for us to get some action again. The fact that the entire ground will be covered will only help matters.

4:02pm It is pelting down now, says Roshan Abeysinghe on broadcast, and the visuals say as much.

3:59pm Uh-oh, the rain has arrived. It seemed a while coming, with all the murky clouds around and the players are going off now. The ground staff swarming over the playing area with covers. It looks pretty dark overhead, and the rain, at this point at least, looks steady. We hope this is not a very long interruption.