A knock of 77 from Sarfraz Ahmed helped Pakistan to score 316 runs in their third one-day international clash against Sri Lanka in Colombo this afternoon.
The touring Pakistanis won the toss and elected to bat first, with their openers Ahmed Shehzad (44) and Azhar Ali (49) contributing healthy totals. In the case of Ali, his score took him beyond the 1,000-run mark at ODI level.
That was followed by a swift 54 from Mohammad Hafeez, while up the other Ahmed racked up his runs in just 77 deliveries before he was run out.
Once those two had been dismissed, it was left to Shoaib Malik (42) and Mohammad Rizwan (35) to steer Pakistan through the remaining overs, which they concluded for the loss of four wickets.
Hosting Sri Lanka will now have to reach a victory target of 317 runs if they are to take the lead in the series, which currently stands at one victory apiece.
Liam Apicella
