Azhar Ali hit a superb century as Pakistan notched a thrilling five-wicket victory against Sri lanka by scoring a rapid 302-5 in the third test Monday to level the series 1-1.
Ali blazed 103 off 137 balls with six fours and captain Misbah-ul-Haq remained unbeaten on 68 off 72 balls as Pakistan romped home with nine balls remaining on the last day for its second best run chase in test matches.
In Pakistan’s only other successful run chase of more than 300 runs, it defeated Australia by one wicket in 1994 in Karachi while chasing 314 runs.
Ali shredded Sri lanka’s bowlers and set up the chase with a run-a-ball 89 for the fourth wicket stand with Sarfraz Ahmed (48) before putting on a match-winning 109 off 119 balls with Misbah.
“We clearly decided we are going for it at any cost, whether we lose 2-0, no problem,” Misbah said. “After youngsters (Ali and Sarfraz) had done their partnership, it was easy to score a run a ball.”
Earlier, Prasanna Jayawardene made an aggressive 49 before Sri lanka was bowled out for 214 for an overall lead of 301 and left Pakistan with 59 overs to get victory.
“It’s an amazing victory because we haven’t won many games while chasing like that,” Misbah said.
Sri lanka won the second test by nine wickets after the first Test was drawn.
Pakistan needed 195 in the last 35 overs after Suranga lakmal (3-79) had removed openers and reduced Pakistan to 107-3 by tea.
Ahmed justified his promotion ahead of Misbah and turned the tide in favor of Pakistan by not even sparing ace spinner Rangana Herath (0-100) on a very flat wicket.
“We should have got more than 260 (in the second innings),” Sri lanka captain Angelo Mathews said. “They were desperate to win because they were 1-0 down ... but our batting failed. I can’t blame the spinners, it was more our batters’ fault.”
Ahmed departed in the 37th over when he gloved a legside catch off Shaminda Eranga but Misbah continued to push the accelerator as Sri lanka’s bowlers had no answer to stop the Pakistan batsmen from scoring at a brisk pace.
Ali raised his century off 133 balls but edged lakmal under fading light with Pakistan needing only seven runs for victory as Misbah hit the winning run in the next over off Eranga.
Earlier, lakmal cut short Ahmed Shehzad and Khurram Manzoor’s brisk starts of 21 runs each and captain Angelo Mathews got rid of Younis Khan (29) to restrict Pakistan by tea.
Brief Scores
Sri lanka: 428/9 decl and 214 (Prasanna Jayawardene 49, Mahela Jayawardene 46; Abdul Rehman 4/56, Saeed Ajmal 3/53, Mohammad Talha 3/65) lost to Pakistan: 341 and 302/5 (Azhar Ali 109, Misbah-ul-Haq 68 not out, Sarfraz Ahmed 48; Suranga lakmal 3-79) by five wickets.