Kishin Mahtani:, external Afghanistan hold your heads high. You have earned such respect with your passion and love of the game.

The Hamid Hassan experiment lasts just one over and Afghanistan return to slow bowling, which has been innocuous on this surface in this innings. Six singles from Nabi's latest gambit.

Warren Lees
Ex-New Zealand wicketkeeper on BBC Test Match Special

"Quite often in these situations the fielding team is living more in hope than anything for a wicket. You look for your youngest, most athletic fielder to come up with a brilliant catch or run out. The ones are becoming twos here and the ball is going into the gaps more often."

The balding, canny figure of Mirwais Ashraf returns to bowl after a spell off the field with injury. He lands the ball on a sixpence and gets a little nibble from the pitch and the runs dry up temporarily. Just one from the over.

Image source, AP

The bandana-wearing, war-paint plastered Afghanistan bowler Hamid Hassan is brought back into the attack by his skipper. Can he make the breakthrough? Not yet... Sri Lanka remain in cruise control and knock the ball into gaps. Less than 100 needed now.

Sri Lanka need less than a run a ball now. Just three singles from another double-quick over of spin from Nabi.

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"This is still even with those four wickets down but he's got to take Shenwari off. He needs a wicket. There's no-one better at finding gaps off the spinner than Jayawardene."

Image source, AP

South Africa are keeping India - and Virat Kohli - in check in the Pool B match in Melbourne.

Having lost Rohit Sharma without scoring in the third over, the defending champions are now 36-1, with Shikhar Dhawan 28 and Kohli - fresh from his century against Pakistan - unbeaten on eight.

This MCG pitch looks a belter and what is predicted to be an 85,000-strong crowd is swelling nicely. The biggest cheer so far: Sachin Tendulkar's appearance on the big screen.

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Scorecard

Sri Lanka 128-4 from 30 overs (target 233)

Batsmen: Jayawardene 72, Mathews 23

Fall of wickets: 0-1 (Thirimanne 0), 2-2 (Dilshan 0), 18-3 (Sangakkara 7), 51-4 (Karunaratne 23)

Bowling figures: Dilwat Zadran 5-0-15-1, Shapoor Zadran 6-1-24-1, Hassan 5-0-23-2, Ashraf 4.1-0-14-0, Nabi 3-0-13-0, Stanikzai 0.5-0-6-0, Shenwari 6-0-32-0

Afghanistan 232 from 49.4 overs Stanikzai 54, Malinga 3-41, Mathews 3-41

Toss: Won by Sri Lanka

Scorecard

Radio 5 live sports extra commentary

Mahela Jayawardene must have a table booked. He's suddenly gone through the gears - clipping four down to fine leg and then bisecting two fielders to caress another boundary through the covers. Eye of the needle stuff. The leg-spin of Shenwari is about as threatening as a kitten at the moment. Sri Lanka coasting.

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"Nabi is sticking with Shenwari to my surprise. I thought he would have taken him off, you could tell he was going in the last over."

Afghanistan need to change something here. Their spin bowlers are being milked for ones and twos, it's far too easy for Sri Lanka now. Five from the over.

It's a nice, gentle 20 degrees in Dunedin at the moment but some of the Sri Lankan players shelter beneath big white towels which are draped over their heads. There's certainly little to worry about as Shenwari is taken for another nine runs - Jayawardene getting a boundary with a paddle to fine leg.

It all looks too easy for Mahela at the moment as he rocks back in his crease and cuts Mohammad Nabi for two. Afghanistan are not letting their heads drop though, as they slap each other on the back following each bit of good fielding. Got to keep going.

Warren Lees
Ex-New Zealand wicketkeeper on BBC Test Match Special

"You like your spin bowlers to be the calming influence of the team but Shenwari gets a bit wound up."

Image source, AP

Some of the stats surrounding Mahela Jayawardene are incredible. The elegant right-hander is playing his 443rd one-day international today, meaning he has spent more than one year of his life playing ODI cricket alone. He now has 78 half-centuries from those games too as he brings up another landmark by easing Shenwari for a single.

Sri Lanka-based journalist Andrew Fernando: Found out that Mahela recently got a tattoo done on his arm. Sanga's also got a trendy haircut. Even their mid-life crises are in sync.

Shapoor is almost running in from the sightscreen as he bounds in to deliver the ball at a decent lick. He continues to attack from round the wicket with the ball angling into the right-handers and a good over is spoilt at the end when he strays down leg and is clipped for four by Mahela.

Vic Marks
Ex-England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

"It's still a damn good contest. Mathews is naturally a free flowing batsman but he's also the captain who has a team teetering at the moment. We could have had about four run outs in this innings."

There's a very vocal fella on the Dunedin PA system. He's blasting out the tunes between overs and trying to whip the crowd into a frenzy. It's rather like when your club side does a T20 competition on a Bank Holiday and Big Mick from behind the bar gets hold of the microphone attached to a CD player.

Three more singles shaved from the target, with Mahela Jayawardene avoiding a run-out opportunity as another direct hit attempt fails to hit its target.