England rediscover winning habit

12 April 2012

England retained their composure and finished the summer with back-to-back wins by sealing a nail-biting victory over Pakistan in the final match of the NatWest Series.

Having restricted Pakistan to a modest 154 for nine in a match they needed to win to level the series, England's chances of snatching victory appeared to have been lost when they slumped to 118 for seven.

But a determined eighth-wicket stand between Michael Yardy, playing in only his second one-day international, and man-of-the-match Sajid Mahmood steered England to a three-wicket win with an unbroken 37-run stand.

It followed their emphatic victory at Trent Bridge on Friday evening and means England have now posted successive victories in one-day internationals for the first time since beating Australia and Bangladesh at Bristol and Trent Bridge 29 matches ago.

Disrupted by injuries and a change of stand-in captain in mid-summer, England have overcome a dismal run in one-day cricket to lift spirits prior to a winter schedule which includes the Champions Trophy, an Ashes tour and the World Cup.

Having at one stage lost nine of their last 10 limited-overs matches, England rediscovered the winning habit just in time and will now travel to the Champions Trophy in India next month with renewed hope.

Deciding to bowl first in seamer-friendly conditions, England dominated Pakistan's daunting batting line-up as soon as they broke a stubborn 43-run opening stand between Imran Farhat and Mohammad Hafeez.

It took the introduction of Lancashire seamer Mahmood, barracked from the start by a large majority of Pakistan supporters because of his sub-continent heritage, to break the stand and establish England's advantage.

Farhat fell to Mahmood's third ball when he got an inside edge onto his pads and set off for a quick single, only to be sent back by Hafeez, and wicketkeeper Chris Read's quick work beat his return to the crease.

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