Mahmood holds nerve to level series

England gained a share of the NatWest Series after a nailbiting victory over Pakistan at Edgbaston.

Tail-ender Sajid Mahmood helped his side over the line by three wickets after a batting collapse threatened to unravel their bid to level the campaign.

Mahmood struck three fours in a row off Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Michael Yardy hit the winning runs in the 31st over as England overhauled their 155-run target and sealed a 2-2 draw.

Andrew Strauss' men appeared to be cruising to victory but slumped to 118 for seven after losing four wickets for 16 runs.

England lost three wickets in the first 10 overs and then suffered a spate of three more for four runs in eight balls to leave the contest finely balanced.

Mohammad Asif deceived Ed Joyce, bringing one back to hit off-stump and his second success - Ian Bell caught at gully - was followed next ball by a wicket for Rao Iftikhar Anjum.

Captain Strauss found the boundary regularly before he flashed an edge behind off the recalled paceman for wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal to take a fine catch diving to his left.

Kevin Pietersen's luck ran out shortly after the side's three figures came up as he missed a sweep at Shahid Afridi's leg-spin.

When Jamie Dalrymple was pinned lbw in the same over, panic set in and Abdul Razzaq followed up by effecting Paul Collingwood's demise. Wicketkeeper Chris Read then holed out from a Razzaq bouncer to enliven the vociferous Pakistani section of the full house.

Having won the toss for the first time, Strauss will have been pleased with his bowlers' efforts in restricting their opponents to 154 for nine. The wickets were shared around the attack with only Younis Khan, who struck 47, prospering on a sluggish surface.