| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
Colombo: An all-round show by Pakistan in the third One-Day International at Colombo has left Sri Lanka clueless as the visitors thrashed them by a huge margin of 135 runs and took 2-1 in the five match series.
This win also kept the hopes of qualifying for ICC Champion Trophy 2017 alive for Pakistan.
It was almost a perfect day in the office for Azhar Ali's boys, apart from the brief period of time during the second half of the game when it was reported that a Pakistani player was hit by a stone near the rope. Though the situation was not as bad as it looked and the local authorities managed it very efficiently.
Apart from this unfortunate incident, on-filed it was a thoroughly professional performance for Pakistan. First they won the toss and put up a huge score on board, thanks to significant contributions for all of their top batsmen.
Later their bowlers backed it up with a disciplined bowling performance. Even in this game Pakistan out-fielded Sri Lanka as well. This commanding victory will give this Pakistan side a huge boost in confidence in the coming games of the series.
Sri Lanka were never in the game during their chase of 317. Their openers failed to give a start like they did in the last match. They lost four top order batsmen before reaching the 100-run mark.
Tillakaratne Dilshan was the first man to get out, when he tried to hit Anwar Ali over mid-off but failed to do so. Azhar Ali took a good catch. Last game’s hero Kusal Perera failed to take off in this game as he became the second victim of Anwar for just 20.
Later Yasir Shah struck twice and got rid of Upul Tharanga and Angelo Mathews in quick succession. Soon Sri Lanka were left tottering 142 for seven in the 31st over.
Brief scores
Pakistan - 316/4 (Sarfraz Ahmed 77, Mohammad Hafeez 54)
Sri Lanka - 181 (Thirimanne 56, Yasir Shah 4-29)
Result - Pakistan won by 135 runs
MOM - Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan)
