England’s tour of the UAE started disastrously but ended on a brighter note with series wins against Pakistan in the two limited-over formats.
England were routed 3-0 in the Test series on neutral soil, putting their No.1 Test ranking in doubt.
England remain in top spot but South Africa will usurp them if they thump New Zealand 3-0 in the upcoming Test series.
Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad admitted his side’s tight win in the final T20, which capped a 2-1 series win, was unlikely to satisfy too many players.
“I think we showed great character to come back from those Test defeats and win the one-day series,” Broad said.
“Nothing makes up for losing games but it’s given us a lot of confidence over where we’re going in one-day cricket.
“We obviously didn’t start well in the Test matches but we’ve shown some good fight to come back and win the one-day series 4-0 and now the Twenty20 series, so we finished on the high.”
England’s bowlers kept their nerves in the final overs to pull off a sensational five-run win over Pakistan in the third and final Twenty20 in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Set 130 to win Pakistan were going along nicely at 4-107 with 23 needed off the last three overs and 17 off the remaining two but Broad and Jade Dernbach combined to seal the win.
Broad dismissed a well set Umar Akmal (22) off the third ball of the penultimate over and gave away just four runs, leaving Dernbach to defend 13 in the last, which he successfully did, removing Misbah-ul Haq (28) off the final delivery.
Dernbach finished with 2-24.
Pakistan won the first match by eight runs while England won the second by 38 runs – both played in Dubai.
Pakistan had lost opener Mohammad Hafeez for a second duck of the series but Awais Zia (23) and Asad Shafiq added 40 for the second wicket before Zia was trapped leg-before by Graeme Swann and Shafiq was run out.
Misbah and Umar Akmal added 37 for the fourth wicket but England pulled back with remarkable determination.
Dernbach bowled a wide in the final over but with six needed off the final ball, Misbah was bowled and victory was England’s.
The Pakistan captain was distraught.
“What can I say about this, I think it’s a real disappointment for us (because) 129 was an easy target on this wicket but we could not make it in the end,” Misbah said.
“We failed, we are responsible for this defeat.”
Earlier offspinner Saeed Ajmal finished with 4-23 to restrict England to a modest 6-129 after they won the toss and batted.
Opener Kevin Pietersen top scored with 62 not out, keeping one end intact during his 52-ball knock for his seventh T20 fifty.
