Pakistan triumph over England

Rampant Pakistan, spearheaded by fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, won the third and final Test against England by an innings and 100 runs in Lahore on Saturday to take the series 2-0.

The fiery Shoaib with five wickets and leg spinner Danish Kaneria with four, including three wickets in five balls after lunch, combined to crush England's final-day resistance. The visitors were all out for 248 after the last eight wickets fell for 43 runs.

Ian Bell (92) and Paul Collingwood (80) had looked to be steadying England's second innings with a third-wicket stand of 175 until Collingwood became the first of Kaneria's victims caught by Hasan Raza in the first over after lunch.

Kevin Pietersen followed, caught Raza for one, and Andrew Flintoff was bowled first ball with a well disguised googly.

Kaneria came close to a hat-trick when he again deceived Geraint Jones with a googly but umpire Darrell Hair turned down the big shout.

Shoaib who had removed Marcus Trescothick (0) and Michael Vaughan (13) on the fourth day than got into the act.

He trapped Bell leg before wicket with a slower ball after he had faced 189 balls and hit 13 boundaries. England's hopes of a face-saving draw faded with Bell's departure.

Jones (5) was unlucky to be given out leg before to Shoaib when television replays showed he had got a big inside edge.

Liam Plunkett was out leg before to another Shoaib slower ball.

Shaun Udal, who had delayed the inevitable with a stubborn 25 runs from 34 balls, finally fell to Mohammad Sami caught by Salman Butt at slip and Kaneria bowled Matthew Hoggard next over to give Pakistan their first home series win since October 2003.

Pakistan, who won the first Test in Multan and drew the second in Faisalabad, had bowled England out for 288 in their first innings then piled on the runs to declare on Friday at 636 for eight.

HARD WORK

"It really was a tremendous effort from all the boys. They really worked hard," Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said.

Inzamam, named man of the series, led by example, passing 8,000 Test runs during his innings of 97 on Friday. He also scored centuries in each innings in Faisalabad.

"They put us under a lot of pressure," England captain Michael Vaughan said.

"They played better cricket over the three matches in all aspects of the game....We had a chance in Multan we didn't take it. Shoaib I think played a big role in this victory for them," he said.

"We have to learn lessons from this series. We have to face India in similar conditions and we have to make sure we have learned those lessons."

Shoaib finished the innings with figures of five for 71 for a series total of 17 on good batting wickets. Kaneria, four for 52, enhanced his growing reputation as a leg spinner with a series tally of 11 wickets

For England, who had arrived in Pakistan on a high after their Ashes triumph over Australia, it was the first series defeat after six wins in a row.

Scoreboard:

England 1st innings: 288 (P. Collingwood 96, M. Vaughan 58, M. Trescothick 50)

Pakistan 1st innings: 636 for 8 decl (M. Yousuf 223, K. Akmal 154, Inzamam-ul-Haq 97)

England 2nd innings (Overnight: 221-2)
M. Trescothick lbw b Akhtar 0
M. Vaughan c & b Akhtar 13
I. Bell lbw b Akhtar 92
P. Collingwood c Raza b Kaneria 80
K. Pietersen c Raza b Kaneria 1
A. Flintoff b Kaneria 0
G. Jones lbw b Akhtar 5
S. Udal c Butt b Sami 25
L. Plunkett lbw b Akhtar 0
M. Hoggard b Kaneria 0
S. Harmison not out 0

Extras (b-13 lb-9 nb-9 w-1) 32

Total (all out, 77.1 overs) 248
 
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-30, 3-205, 4-212, 5-212, 6-212, 7-227, 8-227, 9-248, 10-248.
 
Bowling: S. Akhtar 19-3-71-5 (nb-5), Naved-ul-Hasan 16-3-55-0 (nb-1), M. Sami 16-4-39-1 (w-1), S. Malik 4-2-9-0, D. Kaneria 22.1-8-52-4 (nb-3).

Result: Pakistan won by an innings and 100 runs