Afridi is the second man to take 300 wickets and score 6,000 runs in ODIs

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi says his side have sent out a message to the rest of the teams at the World Cup with their 11-run win over Sri Lanka.

Afridi took 4-34, including his 300th one-day international wicket, as the co-hosts were restricted to 266-9 in pursuit of Pakistan's 277-7 in Colombo.

"That was a big game and the boys all knew how big it was," said Afridi.

"I think it's a great message for other teams that we will come harder and harder game by game."

Afridi's wickets proved crucial in restricting Sri Lanka in the Group A match, despite a series of blunders by his fielders.

"If we commit the same mistakes then we will be returning to Pakistan soon," said Afridi. "We must improve because such fielding will not help our cause."

But the Pakistan captain - playing in his 314th ODI - was delighted with reaching the 300-wicket milestone in one-day internationals - the third Pakistani after Wasim Akram (502) and Waqar Younis (416) to reach the 300-wicket mark in limited overs games.

"It's a great feeling that I am performing well, which helped Pakistan win," he said.

Afridi spoiled Sri Lanka's hopes of a maiden World Cup victory against Pakistan by taking the key wickets of captain Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews.

But Sangakkara , the Sri Lanka captain, believes there is good reason for his side to be optimistic despite the loss.

"Any defeat is tough but there are quite a few positives to take," said Sangakkara. "I thought we bowled pretty well on a flat track but we made it difficult for ourselves by losing wickets."

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