Pakistan ease to Twenty20 victory

Pakistan produced a superb all-round display to crush England by five wickets in their Twenty20 clash.

Their seamers bowled intelligently, with Abdul Razzaq taking three wickets, to limit the hosts to a modest 144-7, despite Marcus Trescothick's bright 53.

Stuart Broad claimed two wickets in two balls and fellow debutant Michael Yardy took a sensational catch to end Shahid Afridi's electrifying 10-ball 28.

But Mohammad Hafeez hit 46 as Pakistan eased home with 13 balls to spare.

By the end the most experienced exponents of Twenty20 cricket were made to look like novices by debutants Pakistan, who condemned their hosts to a seventh straight limited-overs defeat of the season.

It was all the more impressive for the tourists after the ball-tampering row at The Oval just over a week ago.

Things looked bright enough for England when Trescothick bounced back after a poor Test series to hit Shoaib Akhtar for three successive fours.

But the "Rawalpindi Express" showed little sign of rustiness in his first international stint for seven months, while Mohammad Asif (2-21) was also right on target early on.

The heart was ripped out of the home innings when Ian Bell cut Shoaib to a juggling Younis Khan at slip, Asif jagged one back to bowl Pietersen for a golden duck and Andrew Strauss was well caught by Kamran Akmal in the space of five balls.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, like Shoaib returning from injury, accounted for Paul Collingwood but Trescothick stood strong in the carnage and reached his fifty in 33 deliveries.

He was dropped by Akmal off Afridi before Razzaq all but ended hopes of a revival by having the left-hander caught behind and Dalrymple - who was put down by Afridi off Naved on four - holed out to Shoaib at deep mid-on for 27.

It was telling that the first six of the innings came three balls from the end as Yardy provided a late flourish.

England needed early breakthroughs and Broad confirmed his promise by trapping Shoaib Malik lbw and having Younis caught down the leg-side.

Afridi wrested back the initiative to crash three of the four boundaries that came in Sajid Mahmood's first over, which went for 22, and Broad was hit out of the ground in a blistering sequence in which 41 came in two overs.

Yardy's spectacular effort on the deep mid-wicket boundary off Dalrymple brought a halt to that and his happy debut continued when Bell took a comfortable catch at wide long-on to remove Mohammad Yousuf.

But Hafeez continued to find the gaps with little trouble, although sharp fielding from Collingwood ran him out.

Inevitably, Inzamam was there to see the job through, and provide a filip for his side after eight traumatic days.