Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan, Only Test at Colombo, SL v AFG, Feb 02 2024 - Match Result

And on that note, there's no more from us. The white-ball leg between these sides will start on Friday with the first ODI, but for now on behalf of Abhimanyu, Fidel, Himanshu, Thilak and the rest of the team, this is Madushka signing off!

Dhananjaya de Silva: "[Captaincy?] It's quite a tough job captaining a side with so many senior player, as well as so many ex-captains. It was a good experience for me, but yeah, I like it. [talk us through day 3?] It was a struggle and they batted with a lot of discipline. And then during the latter part of day 2, when both Angelo and I got dismissed, it might not seem that bad but that was the point that Afghanistan felt they were back in the game. I think that's the crucial moment of the match. But our bowlers stuck to the plan all day [day 3], not giving runs away and keeping it tight. In my point of view, that's the way to play Test cricket. And the once you get one wicket it might be two or three. [3 seam, 1 spin combo?] It was good. There was some grass on the wicket. We knew it wouldn't turn much and that two spinners wouldn't be ideal. The fast bowlers can reverse it and got some good bouncers in the middle part of the innings as well. [unfortunate runout, what happened?] I called, but Angelo was tired. It was definitely my fault though. He had scored a hundred and was tired, so I could have stayed in the crease."

Hashmatullah Shahidi: "The boys played well. I feel disappointed because I think the first day was the day that we didn't play well and gave the chance to the opposition. We had a good comeback yesterday...[concerns about collapses?] I think it's the lack of experience in Test cricket and also not having a lot of opportunities to play red-ball cricket. We're new in Test cricket and it's a learning process for us. I hope that we learn from this game, and we have the next one in the next 20 days [against] so hopefully we'll move forward and learn from this. [more Test cricket?] Yeah, we don't have enough opportunities on red-ball cricket. It's not easy. But we learn and move on."

Prabath Jayasuriya is named Player of the Match for match figures of 8 for 174: "I'm really happy at the moment, the last couple of days were tough. We knew this was a batting friendly wicket, so were just trying to do the basics right. This wicket I felt the need to bowl a little slower to gain something in terms of movement."

Time for the post-match presentation...

2.36pm Handshakes all around then as Sri Lanka wrap up what was eventually a comprehensive win. A winning start too for Dhananjaya de Silva's reign as captain. Afghanistan though showed plenty of fight throughout the game, particularly the likes of Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah. Shah notched up fifties in both innings, while Ibrahim followed up a duck in the first innings with his maiden Test ton in the second. Afghanistan's seamers too showed great discipline over long periods, but in the end Sri Lanka's greater experience proved to be the telling factor. This bore evidence mainly in the stark collapses in both innings, where the visitors lost 16 wickets for a collective 171 runs. Sri Lanka on the other hand built on the platforms that were set, with the likes of Mathews and Chandimal notching up tons. Then with the ball, as well as some aggressive captaincy from DDS, Sri Lanka's bowler's probed patiently to take their opportunities. Prabath Jayasuriya would end with 8 wickets in the match, including a second innings five-for, while the excellent Asitha Fernando would also grab 6 in the match. It wasn't a perfect game for the hosts though, with some chances being grassed, but a satisfying outing overall. Fidel's end of game report should be up in a bit with all this and more. Stay tuned though as we'll have the post-match presentation shortly.

Here's Qais. 8 runs more for SL.

Suntha: "Angelo Matthews for the PotM, simply for making the match more interesting"

over the wicket

around the wicket

Here's Nijat now. Right-arm over

David: "Alright, We are at the final stage of the game. Who will be the man of the match of this test. Any guess?" --- Mathews and Jayasuriya would be the obvious shouts, but IMO Asitha should get it for a tireless and irreplaceable effort in both innings.

around the wicket