England v Pakistan

At Sharjah, December 15 (day/night). England won by eight runs. Toss: England.

A pulsating finish forced England to dig deeper than before. Alistair Brown and Stewart had opened with 71 in 14 overs, before the innings was stifled by the spin of Saqlain Mushtaq and Manzoor Akhtar, who took four each, and Mushtaq Ahmed. Despite a worn pitch staging its third match in five days, a target of 216 should not have been too testing for batting as versatile and flamboyant as Pakistan's. But Dougie Brown bowled the dangerous Shahid Afridi with his second delivery and Headley bowled Aamir Sohail with his first. Though Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed added 94, the bowlers held their ranks. Crucial breakthroughs came from Croft, who bowled Anwar, and Ealham, whose next delivery had Ijaz caught at mid-off. Ealham conceded 16 from his second over but just 19 from his final eight, backed up by superlative outcricket. Manzoor still threatened, until Knight ran him out spectacularly from backward point.

Man of the Match: Manzoor Akhtar.