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England throw away victory

Kabir Ali's brave rearguard fell agonisingly short of pulling off an improbable victory as England lost their one-day series to Pakistan via a 13-run margin in a thrilling match at Rawalpindi on Monday.
England gave themselves obvious prospects of success which would have levelled this five-match contest at 2-2 when their bowlers put in a performance dramatically improved from the hammering they received in Karachi last week, countered only by the near lone defiance of Inzamam-ul-Haq (81no) in an apparently below-par total of 210.

But the tourists then had no-one of Inzamam's calibre to dig deep on an awkward surface, after two top-order wickets had fallen in two balls to Rana Naved-ul-Hasan until Kabir revived a flawed reply by sharing a 50-run stand with Ian Blackwell and then one of 33 for the last wicket with James Anderson.

Kabir's career-best 39 not out was just not enough in the final analysis, though, home favourite Shoaib Akhtar striking the knockout blow by having Anderson well caught at slip by Younis Khan to see England off for 197 all out with 11 balls unused.

At 114 for eight England seemed sure to be well beaten. But still comfortably up with the run rate, they almost delivered a sting in the tail against hosts minus the assistance of the injured Inzamam in the field.

Kabir ought to have gone caught and bowled by Shoaib for 11, and England were causing a real flutter for the hosts by the time Blackwell was short of his ground when substitute fielder Mohammad Asif threw down the wickets from mid-on.

That was just the start of the tension, though, as Kabir and Anderson eked out the runs in what began to look like an uncanny reprise of England's 2004 Champions Trophy defeat against West Indies at The Oval - until the 'Rawalpindi Express' appropriately had the last word.