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Captain Stuart Broad and Jade Dernbech held their nerve in the closing overs to bowl England to a five-run victory and a 2-1 series win over Pakistan in the final Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Man-of-the match Kevin Pietersen had laid the foundations by belting 62 off 52 deliveries while carrying his bat through the England innings.
But his hard work appeared to be in vain as Pakistan reached 113 for three with Awais Zia (23), Asad Shafiq (34) and Umar Akmal (22) all making useful contributions.
However, with Pakistan needing 17 runs off the final two overs, Broad bowled a superb penultimate over conceding only four runs when Jonny Bairstow allowed the ball to slip through his legs and over the boundary.
He also claimed Akmal's scalp when the batsman skied the ball and allowed Graeme Swann to take a comfortable catch.
When Dernbach came in to bowl the final over, Pakistan still needed 13 runs for victory and, with the dangerous Shahid Afridi at the crease, the 2009 Twenty20 world champions must have fancied their chances.
However, Afridi's call for a second run proved to be their downfall. Thinking it was batting partner Misbah-ul-Haq who was running towards the danger end, Afridi failed to make his ground when wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter whipped off the bails.
That effectively took the fight out of Pakistan and Dernbach ended the match by clean bowling Misbah for 28 with the final delivery of the contest.
Earlier, Pietersen carried his bat through the England innings, his 52-ball knock consisting of six boundaries and a six, the latter coming of the last bast bowled by Aizaz Cheema.
In the final analysis, that hit proved to be the difference between the sides. Pietersen was also named the man of the series.
The result meant England, the current Twenty20 world champions, had defended a total under 150 for the first time in the shortest format of the game.
England won the one-day series 4-0 after they were whitewashed 3-0 in the Tests.
