Match Centre
Match Details
Toss
Player Of The Match
Series result
Match number
Season
Hours of play (local time)
Match days
Umpires
TV Umpires
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
Scorecard Summary
ENGLAND 260/7 (50 OVERS)
- Ravi Bopara50 (69)
- Alastair Cook137 (142)
- Shahid Afridi2/55 (10)
- Saeed Ajmal5/43 (10)
Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Alan Gardner
END OF OVER:35 | 7 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 130/10 (131 runs required from 15 overs, RR: 3.71, RRR: 8.73)
- Wahab Riaz8 (21b)
- Stuart Broad6-2-21-1
- Graeme Swann7-3-19-2
So, England win by 130 runs, ending Pakistan's seven-match ODI winning streak in the process. Not even Nostradamus saw this result coming. Winning the toss looks to have been key, as batting under lights was so difficult for Pakistan - there was only a little seam movement for Finn but he exploited it ruthlessly. Alastair Cook, meanwhile, can have a wink and a smile ready for the next time he bumps into the likes of Botham and Atherton.
As Khurram notes: "So Pakistan lose by 7 runs to Alastair Cook."
Pakistan, meanwhile, looked a shadow of their hungry, relentless selves of the last few weeks. Ajmal's second spell aside, the bowling was workmanlike and none of the batsmen was able to last very long at the crease - Umar's 39-ball innings was the most enduring. Still, I'm sure we can let them off the odd slack showing, given the sustained excellence of some of their cricket in recent times.
Awards time ... Cook gets most runs (as if we needed to be told that) and he's also named Man of the Match. There are also assorted baubles for Saeed Ajmal and Steven Finn.
Misbah-ul-Haq: "The batting [let us down] - 260 wasn't a big score. I know that batting under lights is difficult but we have to do better against the new ball. Otherwise the wicket played very good. Of course, we can come back. We're going to come back, do things right on Wednesday."
Alastair Cook: "It's been a hard tour, it's been frustrating we haven't played up to our potential ... Glad we got off to a winning start today. It's a different format, less pressure around the bat. Ravi came in and played very well and that helped me. All the lads put in a good performance. Finny bowled well, backed up by Jimmy and Broady - it was a good team performance."
That's the presentations done with, then. England are 1-0 up, with three matches to go - we'll see if Pakistan can strike back against the empire on Wednesday. Thanks for your comments - cheerio!
Saeed Ajmal c Cook b Broad 5 (29m 21b 0x4 0x6) SR: 23.80
Seriously, what do these two think they're doing? I know Pakistan have been very good at Test cricket recently - but someone has informed them of the change in format, haven't they? Anyway, Broad replaces Finn ...
England tour of United Arab Emirates 2011-12 News
Were New Zealand bad at the Gabba?
You wouldn't know from these stats. Also: an unsuccessful Pakistan XI younger than Misbah
Improved England must do better
From being whitewashed in 2012, England could take heart from a valiant 2-0 defeat - but problems with spin bowling and converting hundreds were glaring
Misbah proud as Pakistan rise to challenge
England might not have looked threatening on paper, but Misbah-ul-Haq felt that Pakistan were stretched in all three games and were forced to produce an all-round performance to stay on the winning track
A failure to pluck victory from the duodenum of a draw
How England showed immense mental and physical fortitude in Abu Dhabi, first in not losing, then in coming within a few minutes and boundaries of winning
Mohsin blames batting for limited-overs loss
Mohsin Khan, Pakistan's outgoing interim coach, has said every limited-overs match against England could have been won