Champions Trophy: Sarfraz Ahmed guides Pakistan into semi-finals after dramatic win over Sri Lanka

Pakistan secured a semi-final date with England after a dramatic three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their knockout ICC Champions Trophy tie in Cardiff.

Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed struck a crucial 61 not out off 79 balls - superbly support by Mohammad Amir (28no) - to see Pakistan chase down 237 to win, having slipped at one stage to 162-7.

Fakhar Zaman, in just his second ODI, hit a maiden half century off only 34 balls to see Pakistan race to 74-0 in the opening 11 overs of their chase but then the team then fell apart following his dismissal to Nuwan Pradeep (3-60) two balls later.

Sarfraz rebuilt the innings and ultimately guided his team to a famous victory, though Sri Lanka will rue two costly drops when the Pakistan captain was put down on 38 and 40 in consecutive Lasith Malinga overs.

Earlier, a terrific bowling performance by Pakistan saw them bundle Sri Lanka out for 236 in 49.2 overs - Junaid Khan (3-40) and Amir (2-53) particularly impressive, at one stage sharing four wickets for six runs in a devastating 23-ball spell.

Amir's two strikes were his first wickets of the tournament and the all-important scalps of Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews (39) and Niroshan Dickwella (73) after they had shared a 78-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Having slipped from 161-3 to 167-7 after 35 overs, Sri Lanka were thankful for handy lower-order contributions from Asela Gunaratne (27) - dropped on 16 - and Suranga Lakmal (26) that ultimately lifted them to a competitive score.

But it wasn't to be enough as, despite Pakistan suffering a middle-order wobble of their own, Sarfraz and Amir combined - their unbroken 75-run stand a Champions Trophy record for the eighth wicket - to guide their team to victory and secure a return to Cardiff on Wednesday to face England.

Earlier, having won the toss and elected to field, Pakistan first struck in the sixth over as Danushka Gunathilaka (13) loosely drove Junaid to mid-off.

Sri Lanka reacted well to the early setback, with Kusal Mendis - so impressive in striking 89 in the shock win over India on Thursday - quickly into the groove, driving nicely through the covers.

But when Mendis was bowled for 27 by Hasan Ali (3-43) - a beauty of a ball jagging away off the pitch to clip off-stump - the innings stalled, particularly after Pakistan earned a second strike in the space of three balls, Dinesh Chandimal gifting debutant Fahim Ashraf (2-37) a maiden ODI wicket as he inside-edged his attempted drive onto his stumps.

Dickwella and Mathews patiently rebuilt, the former going through to a fine 52-ball half century, but then suddenly the innings unravelled in the face of some inspired seam bowling - Mathews the first to go, chopping a quicker, skiddier Amir delivery onto his stumps.

Dhananjaya de Silva (1) lasted only six deliveries before being beaten by the ball of the day from Junaid, a jaffa that nipped away off the seam, rising sharply, to take the shoulder edge of the bat through to Sarfraz behind the stumps.

Sarfraz then took a sensational catch low to his right to dismiss Dickwella, readjusting brilliantly as Amir's delivery took the inside-edge of the left-hander's bat.

Junaid swiftly added the wicket of Thisara Perera (1) with a fuller ball swinging away that took the thick outside edge of the batsman's expansive drive through to slip.

Given the carnage of those few overs, Gunaratne and Lakmal did brilliantly well to lift the Sri Lankan score beyond 200 with their 46-run stand for the eighth wicket before Hasan and Fahim eventually mopped up the tail to end the innings.

The start of the Pakistan run-chase belied their later struggles, as Fakhar fired eight fours and a six in his blistering half-century, while Azhar Ali (34) also made the most of a fifth-ball reprieve, when dropped by Gunathilaka at point.

But the introduction of Pradeep into the attack saw Sri Lanka back into the game as Fakhar first top-edged an attempted hook down to long leg and then Babar Azam (10) clipped the quick to the man at midwicket.

Mohammad Hafeez (1) fell in a similar manner to Perera a mere over later as he looped a leading edge up to mid-on, while Lakmal claimed the crucial wicket of Azhar, who undid all his earlier hard work by fending a ball well wide of his off-stump to slip.

After Shoaib Malik (11) gloved Malinga behind, Imad Wasim (4) was similarly guilty of just dangling a bat at a short-wide ball he didn't need to play at, getting a thick edge off Pradeep through to Dickwella behind the stumps.

Despite his team's increasingly perilous looking position - particularly when Fahim (15) became the seventh wicket to fall, run out when dozily backing up too far out his crease at the non-striker's end - Sarfraz, unfazed, patiently ticked off the runs required.

He did, however, provide Sri Lanka with two glorious chances late on but Perera shelled the simplest of chances at mid-on with 43 runs still required, while sub-fielder Seekugge Prasanna put down an admittedly tougher chance at deep backward point with 39 needed.

Sri Lanka's heads dropped and Sarfraz first went through to fifty before then striking the winning runs with a ramped four down to third man in the 45th over.