Sajid Mahmood and Michael Yardy kept their composure to steer England to a three-wicket victory over Pakistan in the final one-dayer at Edgbaston.

They shared an unbroken stand of 40 to see England to 158-7 in 31 overs and tie the series at 2-2.

After being put in by Andrew Strauss, Pakistan could only muster 154-9 in their innings despite Younis Khan's 47.

England were going well in reply but stumbled from 102-3 to 118-7 before Mahmood (22) and Yardy (12) sealed it.

By Tom Fordyce

31st over - 158-7. England win by three wickets
There it is - Yardy drives Razzaq back past the stumps for four, England have won and the series is squared. Mahmood was the hero at the end with his unbeaten 22 to add to the 2-24 he took earlier. Three days ago, who would have believed that England would tie the series?

30th over - 149-7: Was that the key over in the match? With Rana Naved coming back on for only his second over, Mahmood hits out - first through mid-on for four, then with a nudge fine for four more, and finally a ripper of a drive through cover. The horns are silenced, and England are on the brink of squaring the series.

29th over - 136-7: Asif is back on, and that's not good news for England. There's a huge appeal for caught behind against Mahmood, but Umpire Harper reckons it clipped pad, not bat. Replays show he was spot on. Horn-volume constant.

28th over - 135-7: Mahmood plays and misses twice against the returning Anjum, but also stabs him away for three more runs into the off side. 20 needed now. The partnership's up to 18.

27th over - 132-7: 23 needed from 23 overs. But ignore that run-rate - it's all about wickets here. Mahmood glances Razzaq for a two. Jon Lewis looks very, very nervous on the England balcony. If he does have to come in, I wouldn't bet against him disappearing somewhere between the dressing-room and the pavilion steps.

26th over - 130-7: Afridi's getting over-excited, and he's not the only one. He bowls two wides to help out the panic-stricken Yardy. Edge-of-the-seat stuff here. Or even off the seat.

25th over - 126-7: A wide and single to third man edge England a fraction closer. If you haven't seen Yardy bat before, he sets himself up near short square leg, front foot pointing towards long-on, before adjusting at the last minute and walking into a semi-normal stance. He makes John Carr look like Geoff Boycott.

24th over - 124-7: Mahmood joins the Yardmeister. Afridi comes galloping in, dander up, but over-pitches and Mahmood clips him on his toes for four. 31 needed, but all the momentum is with the tourists. Gulp. What a passage of play!

23rd over: WICKET Read c Naved b Razzaq 6, England 114-7
Read tries to pull Razzaq, fails to get hold of it and Rana Naved runs in from deep square leg to take an easy catch. Four wickets in four overs, horn-volume up 300% and Pakistan are now rampant. Could England be on the brink of throwing this away? Only 37 runs are needed off 27 overs, but England are on the ropes.

22nd over - 114-6: Saints alive - Michael Yardy aims a big drive at Afridi, gets a clear nick and wicketkeeper Akmal fails to get anywhere near it. The ball dribbles away for four. England needed that.

21st over: WICKET Collingwood lbw b Razzaq 22, England 106-6
That sniff becomes a full-on lungful as Collingwood is trapped in front by Razzaq. Chaos at Edgbaston - Razzaq throws his arms to the sky, the Pakistan fans explode and England are in it deep.

20th over: WICKET Dalrymple lbw b Afridi 0, England 102-5
You idiot, Fordyce - your sarcasm has put the mockers on England once again. A lovely bit of flight from Afridi fools Dalrymple all ends up, dipping on him late to hit him bang in front. Pakistan think they've got more than a sniff here...

20th over: WICKET Pietersen b Afridi 34, England 102-4
That was a monstrous slog and no mistake. Pietersen heaves at Afridi and misses by a mile, and he's gone. He scored his runs at just over a slog a ball - I'm sorry, a run a ball. Sure we can expect the same from Dalrymple.

19th over - 102-3: KP tries a flamingo-flick off Razzaq but edges the ball instead straight into his most private region. He goes for a watery-eyed stroll to square leg while the Pakistan fans toot their horns joyously.

18th over - 96-3 Afridi is into the attack. Pietersen thinks about tucking in big-time only to change his mind at the last minute, much like Mike Gatting on one of his periodic pre-season diets.

17th over - 94-3: Three more down the ground from Pietersen as Razzaq comes on. England need two an over to win this. "We'll get 'em in singles," Pietersen doesn't say to Collingwood.

16th over - 88-3: Pietersen plays it safe by blocking all six balls. Of course he doesn't - he goes on the bulging-eyed attack, smacking four fours of a dejected Anjum to the delight of the England fans bronzing in the late-summer sun. He could have been caught off two of the shots, and at least two of them also ended with him holding the bat with just one hand. But that's why he's not called Mike Atherton, isn't it?

15th over - 72-3: Great over for England as Asif looks knackered - 13 from it, including Collingwood's best shot of the day, a meaty pull for four. Pakistan need constant wickets to stay in the game. Horn-volume down 50%.

14th over - 59-3: A maiden from Anjum, and that was letting England off lightly - Colly should have been caught and bowled, and then fails to give a nick to the keeper by the width of a polished coat of varnish.

13th over - 59-3: Asif keeps Pietersen completely in check. There are more words exchanged, and I don't think Asif was asking KP over to his for a nice meal with the missus some time.

12th over - 57-3: Collingwood isn't timing it at all. Anjum beats his attempted drive and he's glad to get off strike with a choppy single. Not a single cloud to impede the perfect blue sky up above.

11th over - 54-1: Now it's Pietersen and Collingwood to England's rescue. Asif comes in to Kay Pee and beats him all ends up, only for Pietersen to then wallop him through the covers for four. Asif claps him sarcastically.

10th over: WICKET Strauss c Akmal b Anjum 35, England 49-3
A massive wicket for Pakistan - Strauss drives at a wide one and Akmal takes a blinding one-handed catch in front of first slip. Uproar in the stands - it's a horn-led frenzy, and England are rocking.

9th over: WICKET Bell c Farhat b Asif 2, England 49-2
Great snag from Farhat at gully, and England are two down. Asif induced the drive from England's form man, but Farhat had to dive forward to a ball that barely left the ground.

8th over - 49-1: Strauss attacks again, and flays a square drive over point for yet another boundary. At the same stage in their innings, Pakistan were 25-1. It's a fact-fest round here at the moment, no?

7th over - 45-1: England are galloping along here, and it's Strauss cracking the whip. Asif strays to leg again and Strauss pulls him away for four before nudging to fine leg for the same again. England are rattling along at a run a ball, twice the scoring rate they required at the start. in fact, they've already scored as many boundaries as Pakistan did in their entire innings (pauses, scratches chin thoughtfully).

6th over - 34-1: Strauss smiles in the sunshine as he cracks Anjum through wide mid-off for four. A replay close-up of Strauss's forearms confirm them as the biggest on TV since Popeye last popped open a can of the green stuff.

5th over - 30-1: Great battle here between Strauss and Asif. The bowler nearly repeats his castleing of Joyce before making one go the other way past Strauss's outside edge. Asif hangs around halfway down the track for a spot of spicy chat. England's skipper responds with a clipped four through midwicket and a single to long leg.

4th over - 24-1: Anjum comes on and impresses from the word go with a maiden. The horns blow and the pressure is back on.

3rd over: WICKET Joyce b Asif 8, England 23-1
Riled by Joyce creaming two fours through the leg side, Asif baffles the Middlesex man completely with a delivery that nips back a tad from outside off and clips the top of the stumps. Joyce looks gutted - he'd been untroubled till then, but now he'll have to spend the afternoon doing the Sunday paper crosswords.

2nd over - 15-0: Tasty from Strauss again - Rana Naved goes wide and England's skipper tucks in with two fours. The first is a well-timed back-foot drive, the second a rasping square cut that sizzles to the boundary in less time than in takes to type the word 'wowzer'.

1st over - 6-0: Here we go - England need 155 to win. Asif opens the bowling to a strongly off-side field, and Strauss gets busy with a sweetly-struck drive through extra cover for four.

Innings break

50th over - 154-9: Broad comes on for the final fling, gets flicked away for one four to fine leg but otherwise keeps it tight. England will be pretty happy with that - they'll only need to score at three an over.

49th over - 148-9: That's Mahmood done - 2-24 off 10, and just two off the last over. Nice way to end the international summer for Saj.

48th over - 146-9: Big turn from Jamie D. Asif waves his bat hopefully at the ball but can't get anywhere near.

47th over - 143-9: Mahmood comes back on, ostensibly to polish things off. But Anjum goes on the attack, there's a no-ball, and Pakistan hang on.

46th over - 139-9: Dalrymple concedes just two more singles. Pakistan have only scored less than this on three occasions in ODIs - fact.

45th over - 137-9: Yardy ties 'em up - just a single to Asif, who really doesn't fancy this.

44th over: WICKET Younis Khan c Joyce b Dalrymple 47, Pakistan 135-9
Younis, goaded by the analogy in the last paragraph, tries a wild reverse sweep off Dangerman Dalrymple and can only top edge it to the mulleted Ed Joyce at short third man. Good bowling there - Dalrymple spotted Younis setting himself for the reverser and fired the ball wide of leg stump, giving him no room for the shot at all.

43rd over - 133-8: Here we go - the spin-twins are back in tandem as Yardy returns. Younis is approaching his half-century, but at the pace of a sloth climbing a tree - we've only had seven fours and that top-edged six all day.

42nd over - 130-8: Dalrympers keeps it rock-solid - just one more to the total.

41st over - 129-8: Younis plays a delightful cut off Lewis for four, and the horns begin to drone again - now at the level of an approaching swarm of wasps. Lewis finishes with 1-25 off his ten overs.

40th over: WICKET Naved b Dalrymple 8, Pakistan 124-8
Big turn from Jamie D, Naved tries to guide him to third man and a big inside edge crashes into the timbers. Dalrymple dances, the horns are silenced.

39th over - 123-7: The Yardy-Dalympers dream team is broken up immediately with the return of Jon Lewis. Strauss clearly wants a wicket here. The action clearly isn't spicy enough for one large man in the stands, who is sleeping with his head listing 45 degrees to the perpendicular.

38th over - 119-7: It's time for some Dalrymple joy, and he gets big turn from the off. Great to see him in tandem with Yardy. You couldn't have predicted this at the start of the summer, could you?

37th over - 116-7: Yardy's bowling is tighter than a James Brown dance troupe. Just three more off the over, and the Pakistan horn section chills its boots once again.

36th over - 113-7: Younis sweeps Colly for four off middle stump. As the ball bounces over the rope, the noise of a thousand horns rises once again from the Pakistan section of the crowd, much like some monstrous mythical beast awaking from a deep slumber.

35th over: 108-7 Yardy - or "Mickey" as Read is calling him - ties Naved in knots and nearly gets a nick outside off.

34th over: 104-7 It's Colly party time. Never before have his medium-pacers looked so dangerous. Honestly - it's almost scary just to watch.

33rd over: WICKET Akmal c Read b Yardy 4, Pakistan 102-7
Yardy strikes! A quicker one outside off-stump, Akmal tries to cut and Read bags the edge at the second time of asking. Everything is going England's way - only Younis is left who has any sort of runs in him this summer.

32nd over: 101-7 Steady as she goes from Colly. The 100 comes up, but at a sleeping sluggish rate.

31st over: 96-6 Very yardy bowling from Tidy - I'm sorry, very tidy bowling from Yardy. Just two off the over, and the Ealham-a-like looks very content with his work.

30th over: WICKET Razzaq b Collingwood 5, Pakistan 91-6
Colly strikes - a gentle inswinger whistles through Razzaq's wide-open gate and burgles his house before the alarm bell can even begin to ring.

29th over: 89-5 It's Yardy o'clock. On comes the comfortably-built left-arm twirler, and the runs begin to flow. A little bit of turn, but nothing to scare young children.

28th over: 83-5 Two big appeals from Colly for lbw against Razzaq, but Umpire Harper keeps his fingers to himself.

27th over: 79-5 The brakes are on full lock - Pakistan's run-rate drops below three an over. More Mahmood magic too - the ball is moving around in the air, and he's in complete control of where it goes.

26th over: 77-5 Done it again - with the words barely typed, Razzaq gets the ball away to third man. Still, it was only an edge, and they only got a single.

25th over: 74-5 Saj is a man re-born - he bowls a great over of fast, full deliveries, mixed up with some short nasty stuff and a very cheeky slower one. Pakistan can't get the ball off the square at the moment.

24th over: WICKET Inzamam lbw Collingwood 2, Pakistan 72-7
Blimey - another contentious one... Colly hits Inzi on the knee-roll, gives a huge Hadleyesque appeal and Daryl Harper slowly raises his finger. Inzi isn't happy - he walks away from the wicket like a snail dragging a ball and chain.

23rd over: 72-4 Big shout for caught behind against Younis - Read reckons the ball might have carried, but the umpires say no. Telly replays leave it open to interpretation. I'm saying it bounced. Just.

22nd over: 69-4 On come the Colly wobblers, and Senor Rojo almost takes a wicket - Younis drives him back hard, and Colly almost hangs on to the chance going full-length to his left. Looks like it hurt, that one.

21st over: WICKET Yousuf c Strauss b Mahmood 11, Pakistan 68-4
Would you believe it - a brilliant ball from Mahmood induces an edge from Yousuf, and Strauss takes a fine diving catch to his right at a very wide second slip. Hats off to Saj for the delivery, but also to England's skipper for his aggressive fielding positions. 2-13 off five for Mahmood so far - a world away from his wayward horrors earlier in this series.

20th over: 67-3 Broad bowls one epic wide but otherwise keeps it tight. Younis is going after him but is struggling to time it at the mo.

19th over: 64-3 Apologies to England fans - I made a serious error there. With the last over's paragraph just off my fingertips, Yousuf hooks Mahmood down to fine leg for six. It was a top edge, and it only cleared Michael Yardy on the rope by a metre or two, but a boundary it indisputedly was. No more fate-tempting, I promise.

18th over: 55-3 Better from Stu Broad - two semi-decent shouts for lbw against Younis, both probably missing off. No boundaries now since the 11th over. Not to tempt fate or anything.

17th over: 53-3 Good over from Mahmood - real pace and aggression, and tight on line for a change. The sun is whacking down at Edgbaston - the second summer of the year is here.

16th over: 52-3 A breather all round - no wickets, and only one run. Phewy. In the England dressing-room, Duncan Fletcher is reading the Sunday papers - probably to find out who he's supposed to be picking in his Ashes squad on Tuesday.

15th over: WICKET Hafeez b Mahmood 18, Pakistan 51-3
Wallop - it's three wickets in three overs! Hafeez tries to pull one that comes back into him at pace and plays on - Mahmood finally has a wicket, and England are bang on top.

14th over: WICKET Afrifi b Lewis 2, Pakistan 47-2
In comes Pakistan's Boom-Boom to a cacophony of noise from his fans - only for England's Curly-Wurly to silence them by clean-bowling their cavalier hero. Afridi swings wildly and Lewis's inswinger cleans him up.

13th over: WICKET Farhat run out (Read) 15, Pakistan 43-1
A shock breakthrough for England - Mahmood almost gets Farhat to play on, and as the batsman considers a single while out of his ground, Chris Read flies in and throws down the stumps. It goes to the third umpire, and after an age Farhat is given out by the tiniest of margins. Having just seen the replay again, make that half the tiniest of margins.

12th over: 42-0 A change in the BBC commentary box after an excellent opening spell from right-hander Soni. Out in the middle, Farhat attempts to drive Lewis with mixed success, getting a two through cover before a thick outside edge flies along the ground to gully.

By Paresh Soni

11th over: Farhat goes after one that Broad pitches up and drives just wide of his outstretched right arm for three. Hafeez latches on to one that drifts into his legs and lofts the ball square on the leg-side for his third boundary. Two wides are also thrown in and this could be the Leicestershire youngster's last over of this spell. 38-0

10th over: Lewis completes his fifth over with only eight runs conceded. Apart from one half-volley to Hafeez it's been a good spell. 27-0

9th over: Better stuff from Broad but Pakistan survive another opener in conditions helpful to the seamers. 26-0

8th over: Lewis appeals for a catch behind down the leg-side but it appeared to brush Farhat's thigh pad. He then has a loud shout for lbw against Hafeez but again Harper calls correctly, with the ball hitting the pad just outside the line of off-stump. A good over. 25-0

7th over: A classic cut from Hafeez disappears to the point boundary for four more. There is little pace in the pitch so you have little room for error. Broad needs to learn quickly. 24-0

6th: Farhat nudges the ball out on the on-side and nearly collides with Hafeez as they take a quick single. The first real shot in anger sees Hafeez pick up a full ball from Lewis off his legs and collect his first boundary. 19-0

5th over: Broad errs in line and the ball flicks off Farhat's pad down to the fine-leg boundary. Only five runs have come off the bat so far. The openers looks uncertain on this pitch but Broad and Lewis need to make them play more. 14-0

4th over: Lewis is again right on target apart from one leg-side wide. 7-0

3rd over: Farhat gets off the mark with two when Broad strays down the leg-side but he is lucky when he edges behind and the ball does not carry to Read. There's more frustration for Broad when the next ball flies just wide of Strauss at slip. 6-0

2nd over: Even though the ground is far from full, there is already a great atmosphere - more like Karachi than an easy Sunday morning in the heart of England. The in-form Lewis gives nothing away in his first over and you can see why his six wickets in this series have cost only 15 runs each. 3-0

1st over: There is enough movement in the rest of the over to show this will be a battle for the batsmen but Broad fails to cash in, bowling two wides. Pakistan have not made great starts in this series - 12, 9, 2 and 11 have been their opening stands. 3-0

1007: There are some moist patches on the surface - it looks a seamer's paradise and a great toss to win. Which begs the question - why have England gone in with only three quick bowlers?

0950: England are unchanged and will bowl after Strauss calls correctly. Collingwood makes his 100th ODI appearance - the 11th England player to achieve the feat. Pakistan bring in seamer Rao Iftikhar Anjum and opener Imran Farhat for Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar (knee).