Pakistan vs Afghanistan, 3rd ODI at Colombo, AFG v PAK, Aug 26 2023 - Match Result

That's it from us today. Hope you all enjoyed our coverage. I am signing off on behalf of Ashish Pant and K Vairavan. Take care and good night!

Babar: We are No.1 [in ODIs]. All credit to boys. We had a small camp in Lahore. They worked hard for the last of couple pf months. After the Test. everybody prepared well. As you know, they are one of the best spin sides. It was not easy to bat on. [With Rizwan] We were just trying to build a partnership, go deep and back each other. Wanted to be calm and composed to end the game.

"We wanted to try our bench, a few young players also. tried different combinations to understand before the Asia Cup. wanted to give everyone confidence. [on Saud Shakeel] I told him at the toss that he was debuting. Sorry about that [he has played before]. He is playing spin very well, so we included him in the Asia Cup."

Shahidi: It was tough, the pitch was different. We didn't apply ourselves. A lot of learning, disappointed with performance. We know that we will have the same kind of teams in the World Cup and Asia cup. Our batting was not good. We gave some runs in fielding also. Afghanistan spin bowling is always good. We are satisfied with them. Our openers are doing very good. Our middle order needs to take the responsibility, it's a big thing for us. We also had three injuries, and they were main players. That's also why we were behind."

Imam-ul-Haq is the Player of the Series: It's just a process. It's quite difficult in these conditions. They are very good spin side. Rotation of strike was very important. The management planned that and it worked. I have listened to my chachu as well. You should move your back leg against spinners. It's working and I am happy. [on fitness] Want to thank my management. Game demand lot of fitness and attitude. We are here for two months now, fielding is the most important thing and we are working on it ahead of the Asia Cup. We will take all the positives. It means a lot [to win the player of the series award].

Rizwan is the Player of the Match: We thought 240 would have been enough here. We had a meeting in the morning where we decided to do things a bit differently. But we assessed the conditions like we have in the past. The openers attacked but we lost wickets. Then we went deep and decided to score big. The experience will be great as we play the Asia Cup matches here. The surface got a little tricky under lights because the ball was gripping in the second innings. Our performances and the win are all because of the fast bowlers in the last two years. It gets a little difficult at times [batting in the middle order in ODIs]. Sometimes have to play against the new ball. Sometimes the ball grips, sometimes have to accelerate. But want to go with the team's requirements.

11.18pm: Pakistan win the third ODI by 59 runs, seal the series 3-0 and move to No.1 in the ODI rankings. Afghanistan looked like they lost steam losing 7 wickets for 97 runs. Then came Mujeeb, who smashed a 37-ball 64 and kept the game alive with Shahidullah. However, it was too late for a consolation victory. For Pakistan, Shadab starred with three wickets with Shaheen, Nawaz and Ashraf picking up two wickets apiece. It was a tough pitch to bat on and earlier, Babar and Rizwan scored fifties to take Pakistan to a competitive 268. Late cameos from Agha and Nawaz also proved crucial.

Wavi: "What's with the number 59? First game 59 all out, this one lost by 59 runs."

Uzair: "What a knock by mujeeb"