Kevin Pietersen [ Images ] hit his first ODI century for more than three years to steer England [ Images ] to a nine-wicket win over Pakistan Saturday to help them secure an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
Chasing 223 for victory, England eased home with 12.4 overs to spare after Pietersen (111 not out) and captain Alastair Cook [ Images ] (80) shared an opening partnership of 170.
Cook continued his excellent run with the bat, having made centuries in each of the first two matches in the series.
Pietersen's last one-day international century came against India [ Images ] in Cuttack in November 2008.
"It was a great start," said Cook. "It was nice to put a match-winning partnership together at the top of the order.
"Our bowlers were outstanding too. To keep them down to 222 on that wicket was a fantastic effort."
Earlier, Steve Finn took three for 24 and fellow paceman Stuart Broad [ Images ] grabbed three for 42 as Pakistan were bowled out after winning the toss and deciding to bat.
All-rounder Shahid Afridi [ Images ] top-scored with 51 while Umar Akmal [ Images ] made 50.
"Full credit to the England team," said Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq. "Their seamers are really bowling well and putting us under pressure ... and it was a wonderful performance by their batsmen.
"One thing we can improve on is we can bat better than this and then try and set a good target and give our bowling a chance."
The fourth and final match in the series is in Dubai [ Images ] on Tuesday.



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