Related Links : Pakistan in England 2006 : Scorecard
Sajid Mahmood pulled off an all round show to help England draw the 5-match Series against Pakistan. The 24-year-old had taken 2 for 24 with the ball and then came up with an unbeaten 22 which got England home chasing a paltry target of 155. England had slipped down to 118 for 7 before Sajid Mahmood put on an unbroken 37 runs for the 8th wicket along with Michael Yardy (12*).
It was a low scoring affair in the fifth and final ODI at Edgbaston with Pakistan crawling to just 154 losing 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs after being put into bat by Andrew Strauss. Pakistan made a couple of changes bringing in Imran Farhat in place of Shoaib Malik and then resting Shoaib Akhtar to give all rounder Iftikhar Anjum his first International game of the tour. England retained the same side that had won the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge. The visitors started off in a steady fashion but lost wickets at regular intervals ever since losing Imran Farhat through a run out. Pakistan could never recover and could just put on 154 for the loss of 9 wickets batting out all the 50 overs. Younis Khan was the top scorer with 47 which came in 80 balls. He was dismissed in the 44th over. The second highest scorer was Mr. Extras with 24 and then it was Mohammad Hafeez at the top with 18 to his name. Jon Lewis was terrific giving away just 25 runs in his 10 overs besides taking the wicket of the dangerous Shahid Afridi who had come in at no.3. Sajid Mahmood had taken the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Mohammad Yousuf (11). Paul Collingwood and Jamie Dalrymple had also chipped in with a couple of wickets.
Mohammad Asif and Rao Iftikhar Anjum had provided the inroads reducing England to 49 for 3. Ed Joyce (8) and the two inform batsmen – Ian Bell (2) and Andrew Strauss (35) were the three men out. Kevin Pietersen then found an able partner in Paul Collingwood to take England past the hundred run mark. Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq brought Pakistan back in the match by taking four wickets in the space of 19 balls with the addition of just 16 runs. However Pakistan couldn’t get any other wickets with Sajid Mahmood surviving the reverse swing and Shahid Afridi’s leg spin along with Michael Yardy. The victory came at the end of the 31st over. For Pakistan, Mohammad Asif took two wickets that of Joyce and Bell but gave away 57 in his 10. Abdul Razzaq took 2 for 23 in 6 overs and Shahid Afridi took 2 for 14 in 5 overs.
Sajid Mahmood was declared as the Man of the Match for his critical innings and impressive bowling. Younis Khan was the Player of the Series for his consistent batting.