Gul and Ajmal deny England at the death

 Pakistan 144 for 6 (Malik 39, Swann 3-13) beat England 136 for 6 (Bopara 39, Gul 3-18) by 8 runs

For the first time since Pakistan and England locked horns in the United Arab Emirates, the atmosphere came alive. The advent of Twenty20 attracted a raucous crowd under Dubai Cricket Stadium's ring of fire and such was the delight at the outcome that Pakistan might almost have imagined they were at home.

As the clock ticked around towards 11.30pm local time, Pakistan squeezed to an eight-run victory, recovering their self-belief after a 4-0 caning in the ODI series with an excellent bowling display in defence of a competitive but far from daunting total. Umar Gul, who began the night with a maiden, was back to his best, Mohammad Hafeez burst with competitive edge and Saeed Ajmal's penultimate over was masterful. England needed 18 off the last over, from Junaid Khan, who had been the weak link in Pakistan's attack, but they never came close. 

Pakistan's captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, had termed this series a "decider" after his side had pulled off a clean sweep in the Tests and England had responded in kind in the ODIs. There was plenty to play for and one of the most passionate cricket crowds Dubai has ever witnessed galvanised Pakistan.

Kevin Pietersen excelled with the bat for England, a batsman convinced that he is heading for the IPL with his superstar status reconfirmed, his 33 from 21 balls beginning with a calculated assault on Junaid and ending unluckily when he pulled Shahid Afridi and picked out the only fielder within many a mile, Asad Shafiq, at deep forward square. For the rest of England's batsmen it was a struggle, a succession of scrambled ones and twos.

Craig Kieswetter backed away so far to the leg side that he could not reach a delivery from Hafeez even though it bowled him leg stump. Ravi Bopara's 39 from 32 balls kept England in contention, but it was a gruelling affair, his sweep shot malfunctioning so often that he will be able to count the bruises.

Jos Buttler was out to his signature shot, shovelling Gul over his left shoulder but picking out Ajmal at short fine leg. When Samit Patel fell lbw to Gul first ball, at 121 for 6, England needed 24 from 16 balls, but they failed to hit a single boundary in the last six overs.

Stuart Broad, England's third captain in 17 days, inserted Pakistan, perhaps sensing their batsmen were low on confidence, but Awais Zia's debut had been eagerly awaited and he did not disappoint, playing with wanton aggression before he was undone by a slower ball from Steven Finn.

Zia has already been called "Young Boom Boom", and such is the reputation in Pakistan of the original "Boom Boom", Shahid Afridi, that accolades of that kind are not given lightly. The name might stick. He is a slim, lightly moustached 25-year-old and displayed a sharp eye and an appetite for swinging from the hip.

Pakistan need an injection of youthful ambition into their Twenty20 team, especially at a time when they need to proclaim they can renew despite being precluded from playing internationals at home because of fears of terrorist attacks.

Finn had looked all but unplayable in the ODI series, but Zia deposited the second ball he faced over midwicket and, in Finn's next over, top-edged a murderous pull for six. He will be loved for his freewheeling style. Finn, though, gave him a send-off - a tyro himself, transformed into a bit of a grump. Finn had a bad night, his four overs costing 39.

It was a late start in Dubai - 8pm, not too far short of the time when Graeme Swann begins to wonder where his cat is. He responded with his best T20I figures, 3 for 13 as his off-spin removed Hafeez, Afridi and Umar Akmal in the space of eight balls - and he began with the run out of Asad Shafiq for good measure.

It was left to the two old salts of a Pakistan side with only two players under 30 to organise a recovery from 73 for five. Misbah and Shoaib Malik staged a sixth-wicket partnership of 71 in 9.2 overs, only halted on the final ball of the innings when Shoaib fell to a brilliant diving catch in the deep by Jonathan Bairstow.

Swann, not one of the most natural athletes in the England side, has had a modest time in the field throughout England's stay in the UAE. Another blemish came when a slower ball from Dernbach should have accounted for Shafiq, but was dropped by Swann over his shoulder at mid-off.

Swann then ran out Shafiq , breaking the wicket with his elbows after the wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, had gathered a loose ball sharply at short square leg. His mood lifted, he dismantled the Pakistan top order. Hafeez slog-swept to deep midwicket, then "Boom Boom Senior" fell for seven when he clipped Swann tamely to short midwicket. The most headstrong dismissal of all was that of Umar who was out before scoring as he planted his third ball into the hands of the diving Dernbach at long off.

Sixes in the hands of Zia smack of youthful confidence; when Misbah and Shoaib cleared the ropes it felt like needs-must, a calculated show of aggression once a full risk assessment had been carried out. Shoaib slugged Samit Patel over long-on, Misbah put him over long-off. Thanks to some magical bowling later in the night, they judged their requirements perfectly.

Pietersen century wraps up series for England

England 226 for 1 (Pietersen 111*, Cook 80) beat Pakistan 222 all out (Afridi 51, Finn 3-24) by nine wickets
Scorecard

	Kevin Pietersen made 111 not out, his first ODI century in 37 innings © Getty Images Enlarge

Kevin Pietersen was captain of England when he struck his last hundred in a one-day international. It sounds so long ago that it might have belonged to a different world. In some ways it did.

As the England coach left Cuttack that night he could hardly have imagined what lay in wait. A major terrorist attack on Mumbai was already underway and was about to force the postponement of England's tour of India. After England returned for a Test series played under heavy security, his relationship with the coach Peter Moores broke down irrevocably and both men lost their jobs.

It is a history that has played heavily upon him. Pietersen toyed for a while, nobody quite knows how seriously, with abandoning one-day cricket as his star began to wane. It has taken three years, three months and 37 ODIs to draw a line and when he walked down the pitch in his audacious style of old, and flicked Aizaz Cheema through the leg side, the intervening years seemed more aptly summed up not by his routine kneel and punch of the air as a slightly rueful raise of the eyebrows.

It is no longer Pietersen's one-day side now but Alastair Cook's, and it was perhaps appropriate that his batting renaissance contributed to Cook's achievement in leading England to a rare one-day series victory in Asia. England now hold an unassailable 3-0 lead with one match to play and a nine-wicket victory with 12.4 overs remaining, fashioned by an opening stand between Cook and Pietersen of 170, could hardly have been more emphatic. Whitewashed in the Test series against Pakistan, they will now be bent upon returning the favour in the final match in the same stadium on Tuesday.

Cook's only regret will be that he narrowly failed to become the first England batsman to make hundreds in three consecutive ODIs. He had reached 80 when he pushed gently forward at the off-spin of Saeed Ajmal and gave Adnan Akmal a faint catch. Cook had again been in unruffled form, his cut shot more to the fore than it had been in Abu Dhabi on a quicker batting surface, but his exit cleared the way for Pietersen to claim the limelight.

This has been an opening partnership assembled partly through adversity as Pietersen looked forward to a few sighters against the fast bowlers after a traumatic Test series against Pakistan's spinners. It now looks bedded in and that coud spell trouble for Craig Kieswetter, whose keeping has been patchy - he dropped Umar on 28 off Broad - and whose range is too limited to convince as a No. 6 in Asia.

Pietersen's habitual pre-match claim that he was in "fantastic" form was backed up by adventurous footwork and flowing strokeplay. He passed 4,000 runs in ODIs in spectacular fashion as he danced down the pitch to strike the offspin of Mohammad Hafeez over the sightscreen for six.

He was dropped on 45 when a fierce, flat pull against Aizaz Cheema smacked into the body of the onrushing Azhar Ali at deep square. That apart, his most awkward moments came against the Akmal brothers. Adnan, who had replaced his brother Umar behind the stumps, ill-advisedly tried to run Pietersen out after he had tapped the ball back to him, and apologised. Umar tried to run him out more legimately only for the ball to ricochet off the stumps and career away for five overthrows. 

A sandstorm had disrupted the practice day and when the Kaus - meaning "bow" in Arabic - a vigorous south-westerly off the desert, cleared in the nick of time it revealed the same flaky Pakistan top order. They lost three wickets in 15 balls to slump to 50 for 4 before Umar, his lips daubed in luminous green sun cream, and the ageing swinger Shahid Afridi, who needs no war paint to convey his belligerence, summoned half-centuries to keep Pakistan in the match.

Umar's last two dismissals have taken Samit Patel's fielding reputation to new heights. In Abu Dhabi and Dubai, on off side and leg side, he has flung himself to the ground to hold an excellent catch. He knows that his fitness remains borderline - if you enquire innocently about the weather there is every chance he will reply "chicken and salad", and guiltily wipe the trace of an imaginary beef burger from his lips - but he is a decent cricketer and should be seriously considered to bat No. 6 for England in the Sri Lanka Test series.

Afridi was at his most restrained: that is he gambolled along at only a run a ball. He began in haywire fashion but then played responsibly, a straight six off Graeme Swann's offspin his most emphatic moment. Like Umar, he fell soon after reaching his half-century, bowled by James Anderson as he whipped to leg.

For the third successive match, Finn pronounced himself as fine a young fast bowler as anyone in the world. He took two wickets with the new ball, bowling straight and finding steep bounce at close to 90mph. He finished with 3 for 24, taking his series' tally to 11 wickets at 8.36 runs each.

Pakistan had won 13 ODIs out of 14 going into this series and had also whitewashed England 3-0 in the Test series, but such statistics seemed from another age. The loss of Imran Farhat, caught at the wicket as he struggled to cope with Finn's hostility, seemed a blip. But Stuart Broad caused Azhar Ali to flirt with one outside off stump, Mohammad Hafeez was lbw to an inducker from Finn and Misbah-ul-Haq dangled his bat at Broad to edge to first slip.

Broad conceded 16 from his first over, his mood not enhanced by a no-ball that prevented him from dismissing Azhar to a catch by Eoin Morgan at gully. His interrogation of the umpire Aleem Dar was borne out of frustration, but it looked disrespectful. Broad does not need sand stinging his face to become a bit irascible; a ball in his hands normally does the trick.

Shafiq's first run would have brought his downfall if Pietersen's flat throw had hit the target and he did not learn his lesson. He was unsettled by Swann's lbw appeal as the ball ran into the legside and had to dive back into the crease as Cook threw the ball to the wicketkeeper, Kieswetter, but the third umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, ruled that his bat was not grounded behind the line. It summed up Pakistan's day.