Kabir Ali's brave rearguard fell agonisingly short of pulling off an improbable victory as England lost their one-day series to Pakistan via a 13-run margin in a thrilling match at Rawalpindi.

England gave themselves obvious prospects of success which would have levelled this five-match contest at 2-2 when their bowlers improved dramatically.

After the hammering they received in Karachi last week, the only serious reistance they met came from Inzamam-ul-Haq, who made 81 not out in a total of 210.

But the tourists had no-one of Inzamam's calibre to dig deep on an awkward surface, after two top-order wickets had fallen in two balls to Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

Kabir, playing because Steve Harmison had flu, revived the innings by sharing a 50-run stand with Ian Blackwell then one of 33 for the last wicket with James Anderson.

Kabir's was left on 39 when home favourite Shoaib Akhtar had Anderson well caught at slip by Younis Khan to see England off for 197 with 11 balls unused.

At 114 for eight England seemed sure to be well beaten. But still comfortably up with the run rate, they almost delivered a sting in the tail against hosts minus the assistance of the injured Inzamam in the field.

Kabir ought to have been caught and bowled by Shoaib for 11, and England were causing a real flutter for the hosts by the time Blackwell was short of his ground when substitute fielder Mohammad Asif threw down the wickets from mid-on.

That was just the start of the tension, though, as Kabir and Anderson eked out the runs in what began to look like an uncanny reprise of England's 2004 Champions Trophy defeat against West Indies at The Oval.

England's innings got off to a sticky start when Rana struck twice in his second over.

Matthew Prior edged behind via a faulty waft at a wide ball then Andrew Strauss was unable to lay a bat on full-length swinger to go lbw first ball.

Vikram Solanki was given plenty to think about by Rana before he edged a ball from Shoaib back down on to his stumps.

Captain Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Flintoff begun a recovery by adding an encouraging 51, then two more wickets fell for the addition of one run.

Trescothick fell to substitute Arshad Khan's third delivery, which turned to defeat an attempted back-foot steer and disturb the off bail, and Paul Collingwood drove tamely to point off Mohammad Sami.

Flintoff, who might have gone for only five had it not been for a mix-up between long-leg Rana and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal as a mis-hook at Shoaib was spilled, seemed England's best hope. But he was lbw on the front foot to be the first of three quick victims for wrist-spinner Shahid Afridi.

Inzamam, who began the day by choosing to bat first, soon needed to reassess his team's ambition once England took three wickets for no runs with the score on 34.

He responded with a typically skilful innings, hitting seven fours and one six from 113 balls as he registered his 82nd one-day international half-century.

He shared a stand of 60 with Shoaib Malik then 56 with Afridi.

Inzamam remained unbeaten even as his team-mates folded in only 47.2 overs, doing all he could to ensure Shoaib and the rest of a formidable attack would have a worthwhile score to bowl at.

England struck first via a superb piece of fielding from Solanki to run out Salman Butt; then a first-ball duck for Younis Khan was quickly followed up when Anderson made it three wickets in seven deliveries by fooling the in-form Kamran with a slower one.

Solanki began an advantageous sequence of events with an athletic dive to stop a Kamran cover-drive off a Flintoff no-ball then produced a throw good enough to beat Butt's dash for a single.

Younis, who had registered a second-ball duck in Pakistan's big win at the National Stadium, lasted the minimum this time when he edged Flintoff on to his stumps as he tried to shoulder arms.

Anderson produced an off-break which snaked between Kamran's bat and pad to disturb the stumps, and Kabir was also immediately in business, getting rid of the often troublesome Mohammad Yousuf with only his fifth delivery when the batsman aimed across a straight ball.

The onus was therefore squarely on Inzamam and Malik, who batted carefully and resourcefully as they kept tabs on occasionally variable bounce and rotated the strike with increasing confidence until the latter spoiled his good work by sweeping a full toss from Blackwell straight into the hands of deep square-leg.

Afridi could have gone without scoring had Solanki managed to hit the stumps when the big-hitter scampered a single to get off the mark.

But instead he stayed long enough to usher in the last ten overs which were to begin disastrously for Pakistan.

Liam Plunkett's change of pace was too good for Afridi's swish across the line; then the Durham bowler saw off Razzaq first ball with a yorker.

But it was testament to Inzamam's very good sense and still greater ability that in the course of his highest score against England 36 more precious runs were added to keep Pakistan alive.