Afghanistan imploded in their chase to lose the three-match series with one match remaining. Chasing 309, Afghanistan had seemingly set themselves up well for a late charge, particularly when Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah were in the middle of their 97-run second wicket stand.
However, once Asitha Fernando had Ibrahim strangled down leg, the Afghan innings went into freefall, losing their next eight wickets for just 25 runs. Sri Lanka 308 for 6 (Asalanka 97*, Mendis 61, Omarzai 4-27) by 155 runs.
The innings was over in thirty-four overs, thanks to figures of four for twenty-seven from Wannu Hasaranga, two each from Asitha (playing his first ODI in more than a year) and Dilshan Madushanka, and a single from Pramod Madushan.
Asitha got one to seam away just enough to catch the edge of Gurbaz for an uncharacteristically subdued 8 off 20, but neither Rahmanullah Gurbaz nor Ibrahim took it upon themselves to go after the bowling early on, largely because of the tight lines and lengths of the Lankan seamers.
Afghanistan have demonstrated in the past that their tried and tested method for chasing large totals is to take the game deep, and that plan was evident from the outset.
The wheels came off when Hasaranga struck twice in the space of an over, first trapping Rahmat leg before with a googly and then bowling Hashmatullah Shahidi through the gate after he had failed to get to the pitch of a leg break.
Ibrahim and Rahmat then put on the only meaningful partnership of the innings, but they too struggled to keep up with the required rate. Once Ibrahim fell in the 27th over, the required rate went above 7.5 an over - still quite gettable.
Hasaranga produced his second double-wicket over of the match after Azmatullah Omarzai, who scored a century in the first game, inside-edged a fullish one from Madushan onto the stumps via his pads.
The other centurion from Friday, Mohammad Nabi, was the first to fall, missing the forward defence to a top spinner, before Ikram Alikhil was run-out following some excellent work at backward square leg.
Afghanistan lost their last eight wickets in five overs when Madushanka produced the third double-wicket over of the session, trapping Noor Ahmad lbw first ball and then had Qais Ahmed caught at deep square leg. Hasaranga then finished the innings by dismissing Gulbadin Naib lbw.
After opting to bat first, Sri Lanka also lost wickets in pairs during their innings, but they vitally recovered and consolidated after each of those setbacks, resulting in four of their batters scoring fifties and driving them up to 308 for 6. Asalanka completed a slow burn outing, finishing unbeaten on 74 balls and 97 runs;
it was his partnership of 50 from 32 with Hasaranga that propelled Sri Lanka's total past 300, a strong comeback after Afghanistan had sought to exploit the middle overs.
Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, and Janith Liyanage all scored fifty runs each, in addition to Asalanka. Two hundred run partnerships, one between Mendis and Samarawickrama and the other between Liyanage and Asalanka, stabilized the innings before the Hasaranga-Asalanka combination helped Sri Lanka score ninety-six in the final ten overs.
With stats of 3 for 56, Omarzai was the best bowler for Afghanistan; nevertheless, three catches off the bowling of Fazalhaq Farooqi cost him wickets, while Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, and Qais Ahmad all took one wicket each.
Following Sri Lanka's decision to bat, Nissanka looked impressive, hitting three boundaries in his 17 balls, but his attack was cut short when he failed to convert a full and straight one from Omarzai, leaving him out lbw. A few overs later, an out-of-sorts Avishka Fernando was dismissed, edging a ball that was angling across, straight to point, reminiscent of his three dismissals in the recent series against Zimbabwe.
This brought Mendis and Samarawickrama together, who rebuilt with boundaries acting merely as a means of relieving mounting pressure. Mendis was also granted an early reprieve when Gulbadin Naib spilled a soft chance at short midwicket.
Samarawickrama, however, lobbed one to mid-off, who was positioned on the edge of the circle, and Mendis soon followed suit, pulling one straight to deep square leg in the very next over. After that, Asalanka and Liyanage regrouped before altering their strategies;
the latter reached his fifty with a lofted six down the ground, but he was caught at long-on, looking to go big once more. Afghanistan did not do themselves any favours in the dying overs, as both Asalanka and Hasaranga were removed from the game. As a result, Asalanka was there to guarantee Sri Lanka had a competitive total to defend, which they accomplished with ease.
Afghanistan have demonstrated in the past that their tried and tested method for chasing large totals is to take the game deep, and that plan was evident from the outset.
The wheels came off when Hasaranga struck twice in the space of an over, first trapping Rahmat leg before with a googly and then bowling Hashmatullah Shahidi through the gate after he had failed to get to the pitch of a leg break.
Ibrahim and Rahmat then put on the only meaningful partnership of the innings, but they too struggled to keep up with the required rate. Once Ibrahim fell in the 27th over, the required rate went above 7.5 an over - still quite gettable.
Hasaranga produced his second double-wicket over of the match after Azmatullah Omarzai, who scored a century in the first game, inside-edged a fullish one from Madushan onto the stumps via his pads.
The other centurion from Friday, Mohammad Nabi, was the first to fall, missing the forward defence to a top spinner, before Ikram Alikhil was run-out following some excellent work at backward square leg.
However, once Asitha Fernando had Ibrahim strangled down leg, the Afghan innings went into freefall, losing their next eight wickets for just 25 runs. Sri Lanka 308 for 6 (Asalanka 97*, Mendis 61, Omarzai 4-27) by 155 runs.