Pakistan hold their nerve, just

Pakistan won the third Test and have a chance to level the series this week at Lord's but this victory was not without nervous moments and as ever in small chases it was panic and tension at the end when the game had already been won.

Mohammad Yousuf, the recalled veteran, is a soothing presence at the crease and when he joined his beleaguered captain, Salman Butt, there was a chance that another quick wicket would give England a hope. Ninety-one runs were still needed after Imran Farhat had given Pakistan a rousing start with some well-considered aggression but everyone knew the key partnership was Yousuf and Butt.

England's hopes rested on Graeme Swann but Yousuf and Butt showed few nerves, calmly accumulating runs with little risk and gaining some fluency at the crease as they did so. Indeed as lunch approached they looked in complete control and as they took Pakistan past 100 it felt that the game was theirs and deservedly so. Indeed it should have been but then Butt edged Swann to slip and the innings lost momentum. England bowled well, Swann in particular, and a series of maidens after lunch completely throttled Pakistan - still they were in charge but pressure plays havoc with minds and young Azhar Ali chanced a quick single to midwicket and was out and then James Anderson bowled Yousuf with a superb yorker.

The equation was still not daunting, 17 runs with five wickets left but Kamran Akmal was LBW next over and Swann was exerting a stranglehold from his end. Earlier in the summer they had scraped home against Australia but recent in the memory was their losses in Sydney and Galle last winter when two small fourth-innings chases ended in ignominious defeat and recriminations.

Fortunately in 18-year-old Mohammad Aamer they have a cricketer of substance. He has bowled beautifully all series and wrapped up the English innings in the morning with the third ball when Stuart Broad obligingly swatted one to mid-on but nothing was more important than his calm innings at the end that won the match.

Neither he nor Umar Akmal could score a run but they did not gift their wickets in a moment of madness and when a couple of boundaries came, one apiece, it settled their nerves and that of the dressing room.

However, if the target had been another 30 then it could easily have been a different situation and so the fact that England only managed to add one run to their overnight score and the 30 extra runs the Pakistan tailenders scored on Thursday after Andrew Strauss dropped Mohammad Asif became vitally important.

None of which should detract from a splendid Pakistan performance. At Trent Bridge and Edgbaston they were shocking in all departments except bowling. Here they again bowled wonderfully well.The collapse that Saeed Ajmal and Aamer orchestrated on Friday afternoon was dramatic as six wickets fell for 26 runs and this is only the latest that England have suffered in this series. The difference is this time it mattered but Wahib Riaz, Mohammad Asif, Ajmal and Aamer consistently troubled England and would expect to at Lord's.

What changed though was they batted better and importantly caught nearly every chance.

Their thinking was also clearer as Farhat deliberately attacked England at the start of the chase. It was he that set Pakistan off at seven runs an over and forced Andrew Strauss to concede easy singles by posting boundary outriders.

His plan was to save enough runs for Swann to win the match but in giving easy runs against such a low target it gifted momentum to the chasing side.

The fact is Pakistan deserved to win and for the first time this summer England were challenged and struggled. It will give Australia some succour as naturally thoughts turn to the Ashes in November and considering how the England top-order has struggled against left arm seam, Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson will be key players.

That is for another day though. Pakistan are back in this series, as is Alastair Cook after a century saved his immediate Test career, but it is ironic for the opener that his first contribution in months culminated in defeat.

England 1st innings 233 Pakistan 1st innings 308

ENGLAND (overnight 221-9)

S Broad c Asif b Amir ...................................6

S Finn not out ...............................................1

Extras: (5lb, 2w, 5nb) .................................12

Total (all out) 222

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-40, 3-156, 4-194, 5-195, 6-202, 7-206, 8-210, 9-220.

Bowling: M Amir 19-5-52-5 (1w), M Asif 16-7-45-0 (2nb), W Riaz 8-1-40-1 (1w, 3nb), S Ajmal 31-7-71-4, I Farhat 3-0-9-0.

PAKISTAN

I Farhat lbw b Swann .................................33

Y Hameed c Swann b Anderson ..................0

S Butt c Collingwood b Swann ..................48

M Yousuf b Anderson ................................33

A Ali run out .................................................5

U Akmal not out .........................................16

K Akmal lbw b Swann ..................................0

M Amir not out ............................................4

Extras: (4b, 2lb, 1nb, 2w) .............................9

Total (for six wickets) ........................148

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-57, 3-103, 4-124, 5-131, 6-132.

Bowling: James Anderson 14-5-39-2 (1nb, 1w), Stuart Broad 6-0-35-0, Graeme Swann 18.4-4-50-3, Steven Finn 3-0-18-0.

Pakistan won by 4 wickets England lead four-match series 2-1