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...

2.4
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Mendis, no run, length delivery pushed across the batter outside off stump. Mendis comes forward and lets it go

The rain seems to be coming down a little harder now

2.3
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Mendis, no run, back of a length delivery on leg stump. Mendis gets onto the back foot and defends the ball down the ground towards the bowler
2.2
1
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, 1 run, length delivery on leg stump. Nissanka camps in his crease and helps it behind square on the leg side for one more run
2.1
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, no run, length delivery on middle and leg stump. Nissanka dangles his bat and seems to get a slight scratch before the ball thuds into the pads
2.1
5w
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, 5 wides, oh dear! Length delivery that slides down the leg side. Nissanka does not get any bat on it and the ball swings further away from the keeper, meaning that he can't rein it in either

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

END OF OVER:
2 | 2 Runs | SL: 4/0 (225 runs required from 48 overs, RR: 2.00, RRR: 4.68)

  • Kusal Mendis2 (6b)
  • Pathum Nissanka2 (6b)
  • Mujeeb Ur Rahman1-0-2-0
  • Fazalhaq Farooqi1-0-2-0
1.6
0
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Mendis, no run, tossed up on a full length outside off stump. Mendis lunges forward and pokes it down the ground towards the bowler
1.5
1
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Nissanka, 1 run, length delivery fired into the batter on leg stump. Nissanka tucks it away towards deep mid wicket and then hobbles across to the other end

Nissanka is struggling again

1.4
0
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Nissanka, no run, flicker out of the front of the hand on off stump. Nissanka hangs back and stabs it back to the bowler
1.3
1
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Mendis, 1 run, back of a length delivery on leg stump. Mendis gets onto the back foot and pulls the ball towards deep mid wicket to get off the mark
1.2
0
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Mendis, no run, length delivery angled into the batter on leg stump. Mendis waits in his crease and taps the ball gently into the leg side
1.1
0
Mujeeb Ur Rahman to Mendis, no run, full delivery outside off stump. Mendis has a waft at it and gets a thick inside edge that dribbles towards short mid wicket

Mujeeb to share the new ball

END OF OVER:
1 | 2 Runs | SL: 2/0 (227 runs required from 49 overs, RR: 2.00, RRR: 4.63)

  • Pathum Nissanka1 (4b)
  • Kusal Mendis1 (2b)
  • Fazalhaq Farooqi1-0-2-0
0.6
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, no run, back of a length delivery on middle and leg stump. Nissanka gets behind the line of the ball and offers the full face of the bat

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.

0.5
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, no run, back of a length delivery on leg stump that skids through. Nissanka misses it altogether and cops a blow somewhere on the body
0.4
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, no run, full delivery slanted across the batter outside off stump. Nissanka reaches out for it and stabs it down the ground towards mid off
0.3
1
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Mendis, 1 run, length delivery on middle and leg stump that shapes into the batter a shade. Mendis comes forward and helps it behind square on the leg side to get off the mark
0.2
0
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Mendis, no run, back of a length delivery angled across the batter outside off stump. Mendis goes back and watches the ball go through to the keeper

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

0.1
1
Fazalhaq Farooqi to Nissanka, 1 run, length delivery on leg stump. Nissanka lets the ball come to him before tucking it off his pads towards fine leg for a single

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