Thanks for your company today. It was fun covering this game. For now, it's goodbye and goodnight from me, Rvel Zahid, my co-commentator Madushka Balasuriya and our scoring team. Join us tomorrow for another exciting contest between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both teams are desperate for a win, so we can expect a fascinating battle!
Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka Captain: Little bit short of runs, 240 not enough on this pitch, 280-300 would have been a good score. Our bowlers did well in first 10 overs, dew came in and it became hard to bowl later. Ball was coming good on the bat in the second innings; Madushanka has done really well, young guy...going forward (he will get better)
Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afghanistan Captain: Quite happy and proud of the team...the way we performed in all departments. Pakistan chase gave us a lot of confidence and belief that we can chase any kind of target. We started really well in bowling; the chase was very professional and I am very happy about it. Coaches are always positive, we worked very hard before the World Cup. Also right now all coaching and management staff are working hard and giving us confidence, before Pakistan game, coach's words changed my mindset a lot. As a captain you should lead from the front foot so I am trying my best, I am very happy that i finished the game and i will try to maintain that in upcoming games. Rashid Khan is the best player and he is a very energetic guy so all team is full of energy around him. I want to congratulate to our nation and i thank Indian people for supporting us and coming to the stadiums.
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Player of the Match: (Rashid Khan translating) It feels pretty good, we have three wins in the tournament, happy to contribute and win the game. I looked for swing early on but didn't get it so then I kept it simple and hit the right areas and that was the plan for the spell and I got success in it. We struggled in the past in the last overs...gave away too many runs but we bowled with variations today and the hard work in net sessions helped, couple of days rest also worked in our favour. We tried to bowl as many variations as possible. Thank you
Presentation ceremony coming up
I think Jonathan Trott has done a stellar job in helping Afghanistan raise their game awareness and tactical sense. They have approached this chase in a measured and professional manner. Previously, we used to see them hitting the panic button too early and adopting a high-risk approach, throwing caution to the wind completely and often losing wickets in clusters. But, it seems that after their victory against Pakistan and England, there is a newfound sense of calm and self-belief in this spirited team and they don't succumb feebly anymore. Afghanistan have displayed restraint when necessary and also maintained a steady run rate throughout this chase. It's been remarkable consistency from Afghanistan in this World Cup! On the other hand, Sri Lanka would rue not capitalising on the starts in the batting department and falling short of at-least 50 runs; they couldn't exert any scoreboard pressure and the dew also didn't help their cause
Rashid Khan got his wish; he wanted to win his 100th ODI and looks stoked about it
Afghanistan players are taking a victory lap. They have received tremendous support today, and the crowd has been entertained royally
Sabhuku: "Great improvement for Afghanistan. Congrats.. "
lakesidey: "Sad day for SL cricket in more ways than one...RIP Percy Uncle!"
Vishwas: "Have to say NL and Afg are giving great account of themselves after edging out Ireland and WI in the qualifications.
AJ: "CRICINFO, office meetings and live match in media room ... I wish cricinfo allowed to post a pic" you may send it to yourshots@cricinfo.com
Ankush: "With AFG winning matches this comfortably, I would love to see them squeezing in the top 4 "
ASingh: "Give a cookie to the guy who predicted that Afghanistan would win with 4 overs to spare."
Raghavendra: "From UAE, reading the commentary of clinical Afgan Performance. Back in 2014, i was the statutory auditor of ESPNcricinfo and started following the website to understand the business model, moved out as Auditor but stayed back as a fan for the wonderful work here."
Sagar: "Thanks to cricinfo, I am able to follow the match daily.... If match becomes interesting then only I shift to Disney HotstarP.S"
Naveen: "Alrite folks.. good nitez from Singapore.. thanx for the company.. I shall read Madhuskas report in the morning.. already 12.22 here" Sounds good
neetika Raina : "no huss no fuzz, taking singles and completing the game instead of trying to hit big shots in air As showoff... Afghanistan team is surely showing great signs of maturity... winning fans across"
MURALI KRISHNAN: "Comfortably watching both the match live and Cricinfo commentary along in my sofa at Woodbury, Minnesota on a zero degree Celsius winter morning with breakfast. Heaven.. Brilliant setting
Malik Aadil: "Afghanistan has grown from last two years very brilliantly. They play sensible cricket with much maturity and executed their plans very well. " True that
vishaanth: "Watching from my home at Kebitigollewa a remote village in sri lanka, after coming back half-watering paddy fields for no use, has to go back n do other half.."
Congratulations to Afghanistan and commiserations to Sri Lanka! There's is joy in Afghanistan's camp and despair in the other.
PersonWhoSaidIt: "@Mike, That was me. I'll take an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Thank you!"
Mike: "Congratulations to the person who said earlier that AFG will win with 4 Overs to spare. Excellent." Deserves a gift
END OF OVER:45 | 8 Runs | AFG: 240/3 (2 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 5.33, RRR: 0.40)
- Hashmatullah Shahidi57 (73b)
- Azmatullah Omarzai72 (62b)
- Kasun Rajitha10-0-48-1
- Dushmantha Chameera9-0-49-0