SHARJAH - Allrounder Shahid Afridi scored a half-century and took five wickets to steer Pakistan to a hard fought 26-run victory in the fourth day/night one-day match against Sri Lanka at Sharjah Stadium on Sunday. Afridi helped Pakistan recover from a struggling 120-7 to 200 all out with a 65-ball 75 before he derailed Sri Lanka by taking 5-35 to the opponent for 174 in 45.2 overs, giving his team an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. The victory leaves the fifth and final game at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday as inconsequential. The sides will also play a Twenty20 international at Abu Dhabi on Friday. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara had set Sri Lanka on course for a comfortable win with a 102-run fourth wicket stand after Sri Lanka were struggling at 53-3 with Upul Tharanga (16) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (11) gone by the eighth over. With 46 needed for victory Sangakkara, who hit six boundaries during his 103-ball knock, was bowled by Afridi for 58 and Saeed Ajmal accounted for Angelo Mathews (nought) in the next over. Afridi became the only man in one-day cricket to hit a half century and take five wickets in the same match on two occasions. Jayawardene, who made 55, fell in the 44th over which left Sri Lanka with no chance to get the win they were seeking. Earlier Afridi hit four boundaries and three sixes to lift his team from a precarious 120-7 to 200 in 49.3 overs. Afridi added an invaluable 61 runs for the eighth wicket with tail-ender Saeed Ajmal who finished with 20. The swashbuckling Afridi hit spinner Seekkugge Prassana over extra cover for a six to reach his 31st half-century - his first in 15 innings - before hitting the same bowler for two boundaries and a six to notch up 19 in the 43rd over. He finally fell, caught behind off paceman Thissara Perera, in the next over. Sri Lanka, aiming to level the series after losing the first and third matches in Dubai, had kept Pakistan in check before Afridi's knock. Paceman Dilhara Fernando (3-26) provided the early breakthrough when he had Imran Farhat caught behind for 10 with his first delivery of the match and then returned for his second spell to remove Younis Khan (18). After M Hafeez (27) fell caught at long-leg off a miscued sweep, Pakistan lost four wickets in the space of just 14 runs. Leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis then trapped Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal (both made two) in successive overs to leave Pakistan struggling at 71-5. Pakistan brought in Cheema and Malik for Sohail Tanvir and Abdul Razzaq from the line-up of the third match which they won by 21 runs. Sri Lanka won the second match by 25 runs while Pakistan were victorious by eight wickets in the first - all three played in Dubai. Soon after Pakistan achieved the victory Pakistani supporters started dancing in jubiliation in and outside the stadium to celebrate teams victory. Meanwhile, it was a carnival-like situation in the Sharjah Stadium as the capacity crowd, more than 16,000 fans were gathered in the stadium to witness the fourth ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The stadium was jam-packed with both sets of supporters but the stands were filled with the over whelming majority of Pakistani fans who were given real run for their money by Boom Boom Afridi with his breath taking knock of 75 runs. The crowd went wild whenever Afridi hit a boundary or a six, even his singles and doubles never went unnoticed as the crowd really loved him. SCOREBOARD PAKISTAN: M Hafeez c Chandimal b Prasanna 27 I Farhat c Sangakkara b Fernando 10 Younus Khan c Mendis b Fernando 18 Misbah-ul-Haq run out 16 Shoaib Malik lbw b Mendis 2 Umar Akmal lbw b Mendis 2 Shahid Afridi c Sangakkara b Perera 75 Sarfraz Ahmed lbw b Prasanna 10 Saeed Ajmal lbw b Fernando 20 Umar Gul b Malinga 7 Aizaz Cheema not out 3 Extras: (lb 2, w 8) 10 Total: (all out, 49.3 overs) 200 FOW: 1-18, 2-57, 3-62, 4-69, 5-71, 6-97, 7-120, 8-181, 9-191, 10-200 Bowling: SL Malinga 9.3-0-38-1, Perera 10-1-36-1, CRD Fernando 10-3-26-3, AJ Mendis 9-0-40-2, S Prasanna 10-1-55-2, Dilshan 1-0-3-0 Sri Lanka: U Tharanga c Younus b Cheema 16 T Dilshan c Ahmed b Cheema 11 K Sangakkara b Afridi 58 D Chandimal b Hafeez 11 M Jayawardene c Hafeez b Afridi 55 A Mathews c Ahmed b Ajmal 0 J Mendis lbw b Afridi 2 T Perera c Akmal b Afridi 7 S Prasanna c and b Afridi 0 L Malinga lbw b Ajmal 4 D Fernando not out 0 Extras: (lb3, nb1, w6) 10 Total: (all out in 45.2 overs) 174 FOW: 1-18, 2-37, 3-53, 4-155, 5-156, 6-161, 7-168, 8-168, 9-174 Bowling: Gul 6-0-19-0, Cheema 8-0-48-2 (w2), Hafeez 8-1-23-1, Malik 5-1-17-0 (nb1, w2), Ajmal 9-1-29-2 (w1), Shahid Afridi 9.2-0-35-5 (w1)