DUBAI (Agencies) - Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 21 runs in the third one-day international at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. Pakistan lead the five-match series 2-1. For the second time in six days, a game was won and lost in the batting Powerplay. This time, however, roles were reversed; Sri Lanka were at the receiving end as they fluffed the restriction overs, picking up just 19 for the loss of two huge wickets, leaving the tail needing 72 off the last 10 overs. In conditions aiding spin, especially of Pakistan's varied vintage, that was too far a bridge to cross for Angelo Mathews. Batsmen from both sides survived prodigious seam bowling but came unstuck against the spinners in the middle overs. The similarities didn't end there - Pakistan made an almighty hash of their own batting Powerplay, to subside from a dominant 150 for 0 in 29 overs to 257 for 8, which in itself was a bit of a recovery. In the end, it proved sufficient to sneak home by 21 runs, with seven balls to spare. Mahela Jayawardene's Powerplay blitz had transformed Sri Lanka in the second ODI. Having gone past 10,000 ODI runs, he looked set to launch a similar sortie when the fielders came in with 91 needed off 15 overs. Saeed Ajmal ensured there was no reprisal, though, as he slipped a straighter one past Jayawardene's forward press. Sarfraz Ahmed collected the ball and zipped the bails out at electric speed, with Jayawardene's back foot hovering inches away from safety. Pakistan sensed the kill and choked Mathews - with the single unavailable, he played out ten dot balls before opening his account to push the required-rate over seven for the first time. Mathews broke free in the 39th over, slapping Sohail Tanvir for a four and a six, prompting Misbah-ul-Haq to promptly revert to spin. Ajmal duly slipped another floater across the well-set Dinesh Chandimal, who scythed an outer edge to point. Lasith Malinga, who showed impressive power-hitting skills in the Champions League, was promoted to No. 7, but Shahid Afridi pinned him for a duck with a quicker one. With Mathews out of sorts, Jeevan Mendis kept Sri Lanka alive, but Mohammad Hafeez ended his cameo a straight ball that he played around. Though the rate wasn't out of bounds, Mathews showed little intent to guard the tail - he took singles off the first balls of the last three overs of the game. Umar Gul didn't complain, and finished the game off by rattling Dilhara Fernando's stumps. In hindsight, Pakistan had their openers to thank for affording them a relatively easy passage to victory. The pitch was neither the featherbed that the 151-run opening stand - the biggest for any wicket in Dubai - suggested, nor the treacherous sandpit that their phase of 43 for 5 in the middle overs made it out to be. SCOREBOARD Pakistan M Hafeez b Prasanna 83 I Farhat c Jayawardene b Dilshan 70 A Razzaq c Perera b Prasanna 6 Younus Khan run out (Prasanna) 42 Umar Akmal b Malinga 7 Misbah-ul-Haq run out (Malinga) 7 Shahid Afridi c Mathews b Perera 15 Sarfraz Ahmed b Malinga 3 Sohail Tanvir not out 10 Umar Gul not out 0 Extras: (lb 4, w 9, nb 1) 14 Total (8 wkts; 50 overs) 257 FOW: 1-151, 2-161, 3-167, 4-177, 5-193, 6-226, 7-234, 8-256 Bowling: SL Malinga 10- 0-57-2, NLTC Perera 10-1-45-1, CRD Fernando 10-1-59-0, M Dilshan 8-0-38-1, S Prasanna 9-0-39-2, BMAJ Mendis 3-0-15-0 SRI LANKA U Tharanga b Umar Gu 4 TM Dilshan b Shahid Afridi 64 Sangakkara run out (Afridi) 45 LD Chandimal c Malik b Ajmal 31 Jayawardene st Sarfraz b Ajmal 17 AD Mathewsnot out 32 SL Malinga lbw b Afridi 0 J Mendis lbw b Hafeez 19 TC Perera b Ajmal 4 S Prasanna c Afridi b Gul 5 D Fernando b Gul 0 Extras: (lb5, w10) 15 Total: (all out; 48.5 overs) 236 Fow: 1-5, 2-111, 3-133, 4-168, 5-186, 6-186, 7-218, 8-224, 9-235, 10-236 Bowling: Umar Gul 8.5-0-48-3, Sohail Tanvir 9-0-52-0, M Hafeez 7-0-29-1, Shahid Afridi 10-0-42-2, Saeed Ajmal 10-0-42-3