03 August,2009 03:03 PM IST | | AFP
Teenager Umar Akmal hit 66 off 65 balls as Pakistan put on an improved batting display to post 288-8 in the crucial third one-dayer against Sri Lanka on Monday.
The 19-year-old, whose elder brother Kamran Akmal is the team's wicket-keeper, propelled Pakistan's innings in a match the tourists must win to stay afloat in the five-match series.
Kamran himself chipped in with 45 during a 71-run stand for the second wicket with skipper Younus Khan (44) after opener Nasir Jamshed had fallen in the second over.
Pakistan, who lost the first two matches, suffered a middle-order slump when three wickets fell for 27 runs, before an aggressive Shahid Afridi helped Umar add 41 for the sixth wicket.
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Afridi smashed 32 off 20 balls with five boundaries when he was bowled by Muttiah Muralitharan.
The off-spinner, the world's leading wicket-taker in both Test and one-day cricket, also bowled Umar soon after, the next delivery after being hit for a six.
Pakistan plundered 86 runs in the last 10 overs to compile the highest total at the Rangiri International Stadium here, surpassing Sri Lanka's 282 against India in 2004.
Abdul Razzaq and Rana Naved led the lower-order charge, making 30 runs apiece with a flurry of boundaries and sixes.
Razzaq hammered two sixes and a four, while Naved marked his return to official cricket after breaking links with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League with two sixes.
Sri Lanka face a target of 5.8 runs an over in good batting conditions to take a decisive 3-0 lead in the series.
