On that note, on behalf Shashwat, Chandan and Ranjith, this is Madushka signing off! See you all again in a couple of days!

So the best Sri Lanka can hope for is to tie this series when the two sides meet again on Wednesday. They would have been confident about chasing this target down today, especially after such a fine bowling performance, but alas it was not meant to be.

9pm Bad news folks, the game has been called off. It's still bucketing down in Pallekele, and the umpires reckon that even if the rain stops there's no chance of getting the ground ready before the cut-off time.

Ihsan: "Ihsan from Switzerland, Do you think a draw will help AFG to qualify to world cup?" Not as much as win would have, but certainly better than a loss, which was the way this game looked to be headed. They're still sitting pretty though.

8:55pm Seems like Roshan Abeysinghe is corroborating Waleed's observations.

Waleed with some contradicting news: "I have been watching the feed. No covers are coming off at all. Its still raining "

JOYDEEPSINGHGIL: "Off the topic today Morocco won from Belgium , was that upset can you explicit which is most robust team in FIFA world cup cos first time I've been watching football matches I don't have any knowledge about football , is soccer and football is same or different." Pretty big upset, Joydeep. Belgium are the number two ranked side in the world, while Morocco are 22nd.

Badar with an earnest petition to the rain gods: "Just tuned in and got the shocker that the rain has spoiled the party in Kandy, too, after abandoning another game far far away in Hamilton earlier today. Why don't you guys come to Karachi"

8.50pm Hold on a minute, just got word that the covers are coming off! We might get some cricket here folks.

Nibraz Ramzan: "Sri Lanka must win at least 4 games from their remaining 5 including this game. If we see a wash out tonight, They must beat Afghanistan in the next game and beat New Zealand 3-0 to automatically qualify for the next year's ODI World cup in India. "

Ali ahmad: "Here in Japan it's 12:09 am . Hey Cricinfo what I should do should I sleep. or is there any chance of play???" Get those Zs in Ali, this one is close to being called.

Thanks Shashwat, things definitely not looking good in terms of a restart. But there is historic news in the wider world of sport, as Morocco just a short while back secured a 2-0 over Belgium in their World Cup game.

Having not had any luck with stopping the rain, time to hand over the mic to Madushka, hoping that this final roll of the dice brings some play

8:30pm Word from the venue is that it is pelting down now and chances of a completed game are getting slimmer by the minute

8:08pm Roshan Abeysinghe, part of the broadcast, reckons rain will have to stop by 9pm at the latest for a result to be possible

7:54pm Latest update from the ground is that it is raining quite heavily now and a restart still seems a fair distance away. The scheduled cut-off time is 10pm but there is an added 60 minute buffer for delays

7:35pm No update yet from the ground. So, it might be safe to assume that there has not been any positive development. The forecast did predict a wet spell through the evening. Let's just hope that the rain abates enough to get a result

And with that, the rain returns. It seems heavier than it did at the end of the first innings and the ground staff is bringing on the covers. Looks like it is going to be one of those days...

The rain seems to be coming down a little harder now

The physio is out again to have a chat with Nissanka, and it seems he may have now given the batter a painkiller to ease the pain. Sri Lanka would hope that he can get back to full fitness very soon

Nissanka is struggling again

Mujeeb to share the new ball

The physio seems to have attended to Nissanka, and Sri Lanka's opening batter looks good to go again

Nissanka looks in a bit of pain. That might have hit him just above the knee roll of his front pad, where there is not a lot of protection.

A few spots of rain again, although the drizzle is very light at the moment

7:00pm The covers are off, and the players are walking out to the centre. Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka will open the batting for Sri Lanka, and the latter will take strike to Fazalhaq Farooqi first up

6:35pm The start of the second innings has been delayed because of rain and the commentator on air says that we should start in about 25 minutes, provided, of course, that rain does not intervene again

6:25pm How's it going everyone? After being 135-1 at one stage, Afghanistan would be ruing that they could only get up to 228. That said, the pitch is not as conducive to stroke-play as it was on Friday and they are not completely out of it. Sri Lanka will be the happier side at the moment but if they are to win, they will need to build partnerships a lot better than they did a couple of days ago