Rival captains Alastair Cook and Misbah-ul Haq on Tuesday agreed that England staged a valiant fight-back after their Test rout by Pakistan to register a clean sweep in the one-day series. Kevin Pietersen hit a second successive hundred, finishing with 130 for his ninth one-day hundred as England chased down a target of 239 in 49.2 overs. Pakistan were bowled out for 237 in their 50 overs.
---- England blank Pakistan 4-0 in ODI series
---- England overtook Pakistan at No 5 in ICC rankings
England, who lost the preceding three-Test series 3-0, came back strongly to rout Pakistan 4-0 in the one-day series, finishing with a hard-fought, four-wicket win in the final match on Tuesday. The victory also helped England overtake Pakistan in the International Cricket Council One-day rankings, moving into fifth spot and pushing down the South Asian side to sixth.
Cook, who scored back-to-back hundreds in the first two matches, said it needed a team effort to change the fortunes. "It's a really good comeback. I said at the start of the series, if we're going to turn this round we're going to need people to stand up and be counted. A number of us have done that," said Cook.
Cook said the win was more significant given the weather conditions. "Pakistan had won 14 out of 15 one-dayers in a row. For us to win 4-0, in sub-continent-like conditions, is a fantastic achievement," said Cook, whose team was thrashed 5-0 in India last year. "What happened in India, when we lost 5-0, gave us a chance to put that to be and say, 'this is what we need to do if we want to improve'. I couldn't have asked any more from our team, the way we've responded after India defeat," said Cook.
Pakistan scored 237 on the back of solid half-centuries from Asad Shafiq (65) and Azhar Ali (58) but were restricted in the final overs by paceman Jade Dernbach, who finished with a career-best 4-45. "KP will take all the headlines for an amazing innings but it's great to see Craig (Kieswetter) come in when we're 60 for four - in a new position for him - and look as comfortable as he did," said Cook of the wicket-keeper, who made 43.
Cook also praised paceman Steven Finn who registered identical career-best figures of 4-34 in the first two matches and finished the series with 13 wickets. For his part, Misbah said that England lifted itself in the ODIs.
"England have improved and really batted well since the Tests. They've started playing the spinners well and to get four centuries at the top was remarkable," he said. "That's the main difference between the two teams. Pakistan dropped their performance. We also had problems with our combinations, so we have to sit down and think how to change this in the Twenty20 matches."
SCOREBOARD
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PAKISTAN:
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M. Hafeez c Kieswetter b Dernbach 1
A. Ali c Morgan b Dernbach 58
A. Shafiq b Bresnan 65
U. Akmal c Dernbach b Briggs 12
S. Malik lbw b Briggs 23
M. Haq c Trott b Dernbach 46
S. Afridi c Bresnan b Finn 9
A. Akmal run out 2
A. Rehman c Trott b Finn 12
S. Ajmal b Dernbach 1
J. Khan not out 0
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Extras: (b1, lb4, w3) 8
Total: (all out in 50 overs) 237
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Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-112, 3-135, 4-144, 5-202, 6-215, 7-220, 8-233, 9-237.
Bowling: Finn 10-0-42-2, Dernbach 10-0-45-4, Bresnan 9-0-47-1, Briggs 10-0-39-2 (w1), Pietersen 1-0-4-0 (w1), Patel 10-0-55-0 (w1)
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ENGLAND:
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A. Cook lbw b Khan 4
K. Pietersen c Rehman b Ajmal 130
J. Trott c Hafeez b Rehman 15
E. Morgan lbw b Ajmal 15
J. Butler c Ali b Ajmal 0
C. Kieswetter run out 43
S. Patel not out 17
T. Bresnan not out 4
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Extras: (lb3, w10) 13
Total: (for 6 wkts 49.2 overs) 241
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Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-50, 3-68, 4-68, 5-177, 6-236.
Bowling: Khan 9.2-0-53-1 (w2), Rehman 10-0-31-1, Ajmal 10-0-62-3 (w7), Afridi 10-0-54-0 (w1), Hafeez 10-0-38-0
Result: England won by four wickets to take series 4-0.
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Kumara Dharmasena (SRI) and Zameer Haider (PAK)
TV umpire: Simon Taufel (AUS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).
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