Sajid Mahmood starred with both bat and ball as England fell over the line to beat Pakistan by three wickets in the fifth and final one-day international at Edgbaston on Sunday and so end the series all square at 2-2.
Set a meagre 155 to win, England finished on 155-7 with 19 overs to spare.
Michael Yardy was 12 not out and Mahmood, who came in at 118-7, was 22 not out after taking 2-24 in his maximum 10 overs.
England’s attack had put them in a position to gain a morale-boosting victory ahead of next month’s ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament in India by restricting Pakistan to 154-9 in 50 overs.
Fast bowler Mahmood, the son of Pakistani immigrants, responded to the jeers of the massed ranks of Pakistan supporters with two wickets.
Medium-pacer Paul Collingwood, in his 100th one-day international, provided good support with 2-23 in eight overs, including the prize wicket of Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq.
”We made a bit of a mountain out of a molehill,” admitted England captain Andrew Strauss to Sky Sports afterwards. ”We shouldn’t have left it to the tail-enders to finish off the job.
”We bowled really well. Chasing 150 you should really do nine times out of 10,” he added after seeing his side come from 2-0 down this series.
Man-of-the-match Mahmood said he was always confident he could see England home. ”It’s pretty tense but I was there with Michael Yardy and I knew as long as we stayed there we could do it,” he said.
As for his bowling performance, he paid tribute to the work of England bowling coach Kevin Shine.
”I’ve been working quite hard with Kevin Shine, trying to get the ball in the right areas and it worked,” he said.
Meanwhile, Inzamam said the toss, which he lost for the first time this series, played its part. ”The toss was very important as this ball was moving.
”We had a little bit of a chance and with a couple more wickets we could have won.”
Man-of-the-series Younis Khan’s top-score of 47 was the only individual total above 18 in Pakistan’s innings with extras second-top on 24.
England were well on course at 102-3 but then lost three wickets for four runs in eight balls to slump to 106-6.
Kevin Pietersen, going for an ugly heave across the line against leg-spinner Shahid Afridi, was bowled for 34 off 33 balls with six fours.
Then, three balls later, Jamie Dalrymple was plumb lbw to Afridi.
Collingwood made 22 before he was lbw, aiming across the line to medium-pacer Abdul Razzaq.
And when Chris Read’s top-edged hook off Razzaq was caught by Naved at fine leg, England were 118-7.
Mahmood, though, settled England’s nerves with the bat with three successive fours in the 30th over off Rana Naved.
Pakistan’s performance was all the more impressive as they were without lead fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar because of a knee injury.
England started briskly before Mohammad Asif clipped the top of Ed Joyce’s off-stump as Strauss’s Middlesex teammate shouldered arms.
Strauss then struck some impressive boundaries before England lost two wickets in two balls to be 49-3.
Ian Bell, who made 86 not out in England’s eight-wicket win in the fourth one-day international at Trent Bridge on Friday, managed just two on his Warwickshire home ground before edging Asif to third slip Imran Farhat, in for the dropped Shoaib Malik, off the last ball of the 10th over.
Next ball left-hander Strauss went for an expansive drive against Anjum and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, diving in front of first slip Inzamam, held a superb two-handed catch to dismiss the skipper for a 35 featuring eight fours.
Collingwood, on two, was then given a reprieve when Anjum failed to hold a caught-and-bowled chance with England 59-3 in the 14th over.
Earlier, Strauss won his first toss of the series and chose to field on a pitch with some early life.
But it took the arrival of first-change Mahmood to spark a collapse that saw three wickets lost for eight runs in 15 balls, Pakistan 51-3 when the Lancashire quick had Mohammad Yousuf (11) edging to second slip Strauss.
Collingwood then snared Inzamam lbw for two as he walked across his stumps.
Razzaq, whose whirlwind 75 not out at Trent Bridge took Pakistan from the depths of 115-5 to 235-8, came in with his side in an even worse position at 72-5.
But on five, Razzaq gave Collingwood his 50th one-day international wicket when he was bowled off-stump.
Younis’s 80-ball innings, including four fours, ended when a top-edged reverse sweep against Dalrymple went straight to Joyce at short third man. — AFP
