England rounded off a disappointing tour of Pakistan with a six-runs win in the fifth and final one-day international on Wednesday. Paceman James Anderson (4-48) and all rounder Ian Blackwell (3-29) led the way after England's batsmen totalled a modest 206 for nine in their 50 overs.
Blackwell took the key wickets of Mohammad Yousuf (54), Younis Khan (15) and Shoaib Malik (8). Anderson wiped up the lower order with Pakistan finishing on 200 for nine.
Pakistan, who won the Test series 2-0, took the one-dayers 3-2 but it was not enough to go second in the ODI world rankings. They remain third behind Australia and South Africa.
Blackwell played a major role in derailing Pakistan after they reached a comfortable 152 for three. The home side lost six wickets for 48 in the last 11 overs.
In the final over, Pakistan needed 11 for victory and it proved beyond the last pair of Arshad Khan (12) and Danish Kaneria (2).
England's innings revolved around Vikram Solanki (49), Andrew Flintoff (39) and Paul Collingwood (33).
Liam Plunkett hit two fours and a six off the last three balls from Abdul Razzaq to finish with 24 from 12 balls.
Pakistan rested Inzamamul Haq, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, giving a chance to Yasir Hameed, top scorer with 57 in his first ODI since June, and debutant Mohammad Asif who finished with two for 14 from seven overs.
England captain Marcus Trescothick said: "The boys showed true character and spirit. It is satisfying that we were able to defend a low total. But it was a good score on this sort of a pitch.
"We were 20 to 30 runs short of what we should have scored, but we bowled well to achieve this victory."
Inzamam said: "It was not an easy wicket to bat on. We needed to buckle down. We didn't do that. England deserved to win, they fought hard."
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND
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M. Trescothick b Asif 1
M. Prior c Butt b Asif 9
A. Strauss st Akmal b Arshad 26
V. Solanki c Younis b Afridi 49
A. Flintoff b Naved 39
P. Collingwood run out 33
I. Blackwell lbw b Naved 0
G. Jones run out 3
L. Plunkett not out 24
S. Udal c Hameed b Razzaq 0
S. Harmison not out 0
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Extras: (lb10, nb4, w8) 22
Total: (for nine wkts) 206
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Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-21, 3-52, 4-117, 5-161, 6-161, 7-169, 8-181, 9-192.
Bowling: Naved 9-0-37-2, Asif 7-1-14-2, Razzaq 7-0-46-1, Arshad 8-1-19-1, Afridi 10-0-37-1, Malik 6-0-30-0, Kaneria 3-0-13-0
Overs: 50
PAKISTAN
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Salman Butt b Harmison 6
Kamran Akmal c Trescothick b Anderson 11
Yasir Hameed st Jones b Udal 57
Mohammad Yousuf c Anderson b Blackwell 54
Younis Khan c Collingwood b Blackwell 15
Shoaib Malik c Solanki b Blackwell 8
Shahid Afridi b Anderson 4
Abdul Razzaq c Trescothick b Anderson 4
Navedul Hasan c Collingwood b Anderson 12
Arshad Khan not out 12
Danish Kaneria not out 2
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Extras: (lb4, nb1, w10) 15
Total: (for nine wkts) 200
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Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-21, 3-122, 4-152, 5-159, 6-167, 7-170, 8-177, 9-191.
Bowling: Anderson 10-1-48-4, Harmison 10-3-27-1, Plunkett 8-0-44-0, Collingwood 5-0-19-0, Blackwell 10-3-29-3, Udal 7-0-29-1
Overs: 50
Result: England won by six runs. Pakistan won the five-match series 3-2.
Super-sub: James Anderson (ENG), Danish Kaneria (PAK)
Toss: England
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA) and Tony Hill (NZL)
TV umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).
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