Pietersen guides England to series win

Dubai: Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen steered England to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Pakistan in the third One Day International to win the four-match series 3-0 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

The England openers made Pakistan bowling look so easy through a 170-run partnership that grew from strength to strength with every over.

Pietersen, who on the eve of the match had said that it is just a matter of time before form catches up with him, cracked his eighth ODI century.

Pietersen, who went past 4,000-run mark when he reached 57, remained unbeaten on 111 off 98 balls.

Skipper Cook, who showed the way for England through two successive centuries in the first two one-dayers, missed becoming the first batsman to hit three consecutive tons in ODIs by just 20 runs.

Consecutive centuries

Cook edged Saeed Ajmal to wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal for 80. His knocks off 98 balls contained nine boundaries and a six.

He could have bettered the record of two consecutive centuries held by Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas and Saeed Anwar and South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs and A.B. De Villiers.

Earlier, Shahid Afridi lit up the stadium with a breezy 51 (from 55 balls) to lift Pakistan from a disastrous 97 for five to a challenging 222 in 50 overs. The former skipper added 79 runs with Umar Akmal (50) to bring Pakistan back into the game.

As if adhering to the opinion of former Pakistan star batsman Zaheer Abbas, who had stressed the importance of playing according to the demands of the match, both Afridi and Akmal played responsible knocks.

Quick wickets

Afridi, well known for his hitting abilities, hit only one six and three boundaries in his innings. Akmal was the first to reach his 13th ODI half century and Afridi followed with his 33rd half century.

Both the batsmen fell in quick succession after their half centuries, with 10 overs still remaining.

The day did not start well for Pakistan. They lost the services of star batsman Younus Khan, who felt unwell before the start. However, they won the toss that had so far eluded them in this series. Following the two defeats in Abu Dhabi by batting second, Pakistan decided to bat first instead. The openers could put on only 22 runs before Imran Farhat played at Steve Finn away from his body to be caught behind for 9.

One-down Azhar Ali too followed, edging Stuart Broad for 5. Opener Mohammad Hafeez maintained the run rate through some lovely strokes but at his score on 29, he fell leg before to Finn.

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq also surrendered his wicket meekly.

Four down for just 50 runs in 11 overs, Pakistan lost the initiative of wining the toss. England pacers Broad and Finn took three wickets each while Anderson chipped in with two wickets.

Scoreboard

Pakistan

England