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England cashed on a catastrophic batting display from Pakistan to level the five-match Natwest Series 2-2 with a thrilling three-wicket win in the fifth and final One-day International (ODI) at Edgbaston here on Sunday.

In a low-scoring yet electric encounter, the home side restricted Pakistan to 154-9 through an effective performance from their bowling attack and then survived a series of anxious moments to reach the victory target in an electric atmosphere.

The triumph capped a great comeback for England who were thrashed in the second and third ODIs at Lord’s and the Rose Bowl by Pakistan after being saved by inclement weather in the opener at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.

But in spite of the fact that they were just chasing a low Pakistani total, the Englishmen had to sweat under a warm, September sun to achieve their second successive win over their formidable rivals.

Pakistani pacers Mohammad Asif and Rao Iftikhar Anjum made life difficult for England, reducing them to 3-49 in the tenth over before all-rounders Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq shared three wickets between them for four runs within a space of eight balls to bring thousands of their supporters within the crowd to their feat.

But Sajid Mahmood, one of England’s heroes in the bowling department, lifted his side from 7-117 with an unbeaten 23 from 25 balls that included three successive fours of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan whose dismal over, the 36th of the England innings, took the game away from Pakistan.

Andrew Strauss played an aggressive knock of 35 from 41 balls and hit eight superb fours after fellow opener Ed Joyce was bowled by Asif with a ball that swung in after the batsman left it thinking it would move away after pitching on the right spot. Asif then soon removed the in-form Bell before Strauss fell to Rao on the very next ball.

Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood batted themselves and England at 102-3 in the 20th over looked safe.

But Afridi got the better of Pietersen (34) and then got rid of Jamie Dalrymple for a duck three balls later to bring Pakistan back into contention. Razzaq then ended the resistance of Collingwood (22) to bring England at 6-106 before getting the scalp of Chris Read.

But just when Pakistan seemed to have forced their way back into the match, came a hurdle in the form of Sajid. The lanky medium pacer added 37 runs with Michael Yardy to give England a thrilling win and earn himself the man-of-the-match award.

Earlier, spinner Jamie Dalrymple took 2-13 to shine in an England attack that saw all its bowlers, except Stuart Broad, dominating the Pakistani batsmen. Paul Collingwood (2-23), playing his 100th ODI, and Sajid (2-24) were the other leading wicket-takers.

But the man who triggered the massacre was the in-form medium pacer Jon Lewis (1-25) who bowled an excellent first spell of 8-1-16-1 to bring Pakistan under pressure right from the onset.

For Pakistan, Younis Khan with an 80-ball 47 was the only batsman who managed to show some guts as the second highest run getter for Pakistan were extras (24).

England were helped by yet another careless display by the Pakistani batsmen. The poor run-out of Imran Farhat, the fall of Kamran Akmal and that of Younis Khan were more a result of the batsmen’s suicidal tendencies than the abilities of the bowlers.

Pakistan, who dropped Shoaib Akhtar because of a knee injury and opener Shoaib Malik over lack of form, began cautiously after being put into bat by Strauss. It was the first time that the England skipper had the better of Inzamam-ul-Haq on the spin of the coin.

Pakistan got their most prolific opener partnership of the series as Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat tried to see off the dangerous Jon Lewis, who had been very effective with the new ball in the contest.

Pakistan’s run rate was slow but with a couple of good pinch hitters in their side, capable enough of lifting it later in the innings, it wouldn’t have been a big problem. Pakistan, helped by a wayward Broad, inched their way to 27 in the first ten overs. They were 43-0 in the 13th over when Imran, playing his first match in the series, exhibited his suicidal nature.

He tried to cut Sajid but got an inside edge that went past the stumps. He went for a run that was never there and wicket-keeper Chris Read flicked the ball on the stumps, forcing the umpires to ask for TV replays that went against the batsman.

The fall of Imran marked the start of a major collapse for Pakistan as they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. And most of the time it were the batsmen who were responsible for carelessly throwing away their wickets.

The next to go was Shahid Afridi, needlessly sent in at number three at a time when Younis is enjoying a great run of form at that position. Afridi fell to Lewis for just two and was soon joined by Hafeez in the dressing room and Pakistan were reeling at 3-51.

It was now up to the regular saviours — Younis and Mohammad Yousuf — to join hands and take Pakistan towards safety. The pair could, however, just add 17 runs when Yousuf (11) handed Strauss a catch off Sajid.

Inzamam walked in carrying most of Pakistan’s hopes but faced just a few balls before being trapped leg before by Collingwood.

Younis, Pakistan’s most successful batsman in the ODI series, looked determined but it was evident that he was slowly running out of partners.

Abdul Razzaq, who lit up Trent Bridge on Friday with a whirlwind 75 looked off colour as he was bowled by Collingwood for just 5 that came from 25 balls.

There was no respite for the out-of-form wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal as he went for just 4 while trying to cut Michael Yardy only to see Read taking a brilliant catch. Pakistan were 102-7 and looked doomed to lose. Younis managed to add 20 runs with Rana Naved-ul-Hasan but the medium pacer fell in the 39th over to hand Pakistan yet another setback.

The Pakistan vice-captain reduced his side to 135-9 in the 44th over when he handed Ed Joyce a simple catch while trying a reverse sweep against Dalrymple.

Rao Iftikhar exhibited his batting prowess with an unbeaten 14 from 38 balls and together with Asif made it sure that Pakistan would bat out their quota of 50 overs.

It was a pathetic display from a team that boasts of one of the strongest ODI batting line-ups in the world.

Scoreboard

England won toss

Pakistan

Mohammad Hafeez b Mahmood 18

Imran Farhat run out (Read) 15

Shahid Afridi b Lewis 2

Younis Khan c Joyce b Dalrymple 47

Mohammad Yousuf c Strauss b Mahmood 11

*Inzamam-ul-Haq lbw b Collingwood 2

Abdul Razzaq b Collingwood 5

†Kamran Akmal c Read b Yardy 4

Naved-ul-Hasan b Dalrymple 8

Rao Iftikhar not out 14

Mohammad Asif not out 4

Extras (lb10, w13, nb1) 24

Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) 154

Fall: 1-43, 2-47, 3-51, 4-68, 5-72, 6-91, 7-102, 8-124, 9-135

Bowling: Broad 9-0-37-0 (6w); Lewis 10-1-25-1 (1w); Mahmood 10-2-24-2 (1nb, 1w); Collingwood 8-0-23-2 (2w); Yardy 7-0-22-1; Dalrymple 6-0-13-2 (2w)

England

*A J Strauss c Kamran b Iftikhar 35

E C Joyce b Asif 8

I R Bell c Imran b Asif 2

K P Pietersen b Afridi 34

P D Collingwood lbw b Razzaq 22

J W M Dalrymple lbw b Afridi 0

M H Yardy not out 15

†C M W Read c Naved b Razzaq 4

S I Mahmood not out 22

Extras (b6, lb2, w6, nb2) 16

Total (7 wkts, 31 overs) 158

Did not bat: J Lewis, S C J Broad

Fall: 1-23, 2-49, 3-49, 4-102, 5-102, 6-106, 7-118

Bowling: Mohammad Asif 10-1-60-2 (2nb, 1w); Naved-ul-Hasan 2-0-22-0 (1w); Rao Iftikhar 8-1-31-1 (1w); Abdul Razzaq 6-0-23-2 (1w); Shahid Afridi 5-1-14-2 (2w)

Result: England won by 3 wickets

Series: 5-ODI series drawn 2-2

Man of the Match: Sajid Mahmood

Player of the Series: Younis Khan

Umpires: I J Gould and D J Harper (Australia). TV umpire: N J Llong. Match referee: M J Procter (South Africa)

Previous matches: August 30 1st ODI Cardiff (d/n), no result due to rain. September 2 2nd ODI Lord’s, Pakistan won by 7 wickets. September 5 3rd ODI Southampton (d/n), Pakistan won by 2 wickets. September 8 4th ODI Nottingham (d/n), England won by 8 wickets
Source:The News