England take 3-0 lead against Pakistan

Kevin Pietersen hit his first one-day international century since November 2008 as England swept to a nine-wicket win over Pakistan in the third ODI on Saturday.


Kevin Pietersen celebrates his fifty in Dubai yesterday. Pic/AFP

Pietersen reached his century off 94 balls and hit nine fours and two sixes.

He eventually finished undefeated on 111 as England chased down their target of 222 to take a 3-0 lead in the four-game series.

Earlier, Shahid Afridi (51) and Umar Akmal (50) helped Pakistan recover from a difficult position of 97-5 before Steven Finn (3-24) and Stuart Broad (3-42) knocked them out in 50 overs.

England won the first match by 130 runs and the second by 20 runsu00a0-- both in Abu Dhabi.