England must rekindle Ashes form to save Pakistan series

Michael Vaughan and the England team need to rekindle the form they showed during the Ashes to beat Pakistan in the final Test, which starts on Tuesday, and avoid their first series defeat in two years.

Vaughan, struggling with a knee injury and poor form, faces perhaps the biggest test of his career and must inspire his side against a team which has been powered along by captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

Inzamam has scored 334 runs with two centuries in four innings. In contrast, Vaughan was injured for the first Test in Multan, which England lost, and managed just 11 runs in the drawn second match in Faisalabad.

Pakistan have won their last three Tests at the Gaddafi stadium, against New Zealand, South Africa and India.

The victory over New Zealand in April 2002 included a career-best 329 from Inzamam.

"It is a good ground for us but I don't believe in what has happened in the past," Inzamam told Reuters. "This is a new match and everything is different. We still regard England as a dangerous side.

"So far the series has been very close although on the final days of both matches we dominated proceedings. But in the final Test we want to establish an early clear advantage," he said.

Since their arrival, England's Ashes win over Australia has counted for nothing.

Their batting has floundered under pressure despite hundreds from Marcus Trescothick, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen in the first two games.

England managed to save the series in the Faisalabad Test after being reduced to 20 for four, chasing 285.

However,

England spinners Ashley Giles and Shaun Udal have managed just five wickets between them in the series so far. Giles is struggling with a hip injury and will return home for surgery after the match.

Opener Andrew Strauss will miss the match after flying back home for the birth of his child. Paul Collingwood is expected to replace him, with Vaughan likely to open with Trescothick.

Pakistan are without batsman Younis Khan, who is attending his brother's funeral, and all-rounder Shahid Afridi, serving a one-Test ban after scuffing the pitch in Faisalabad.

Left-hander Asim Kamal could be called into the team along with Hasan Raza, who failed in his comeback match in Multan and was dropped.

Teams from:

England: Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison, John Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Ashley Giles, Shaun Udal, Alistair Cook.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Hasan Raza, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria, Mushtaq Ahmed, Arshad Khan.

Umpires: Darrell Hair (Australia) Rudi Koertzen (South Africa)

Third umpire: Zamir Ahmed (Pakistan)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)