Battling Ali fails to save England

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 yesterday.

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 England 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.