England Clinch Series At Lord's

Trescothick got his side back into the three-match series with a belligerent 55-ball 86 at The Oval on Friday and an innings of contrasting tempo sealed a 2-1 win at Lord's.

England lost a flurry of wickets but were held together by the opener's fifth one-day international century.

His six off Azhar Mahmood to deep midwicket saw England over the line by four wickets in their chase of 230 as rain fell in the final overs.

Trescothick's first limited-overs ton for England, made in vain, came at Lord's against the same opposition three years ago.

This time he was handed numerous lives, twice surviving run-out chances from throws by Mohammad Sami inside the first 15 overs of the reply, was missed in the slips on two occasions by Azhar off Shoaib Akhtar and dropped at square leg by Mohammad Hafeez off Abdul Razzaq.

Crucially, with England needing a run a ball, he was spilled again in the 45th over, on 93, when an edge squirmed out of Rashid Latif's gloves off the luckless Shoaib.

Three wickets for three runs in 15 balls for off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez gave Pakistan the edge in a tense encounter but an unbroken 77-run stand between Trescothick and Chris Read (25 not out) proved crucial.

Earlier, Pakistan recovered from 61 for four thanks to half-centuries from Younis Khan and Razzaq, the Middlesex all-rounder striking six fours and a towering six in his 53-ball 64.

They plundered 91 runs off the final 10 overs, in fact, to register their highest total in their last eight one-day internationals.

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