Kabir Ali turned a whole section of the Pindi Stadium into little England as his batting kept his friends and family rapt on Monday.

The Worcestershire all-rounder, who lived in nearby Mirpur between the ages of five and 12, was cheered on by his father Shabir and many more as his unbeaten 39 carried England close to victory in the fourth one-day international at Rawalpindi.

Kabir and last-wicket partner James Anderson got England within 13 runs of Pakistan's 210 before hometown favourite Shoaib Akhtar finished the job to give the hosts a series victory.

''I think the Wasim Akram stand was more the Ali stand, because all my family were there,'' joked 25-year-old Kabir.

''There was my dad, brother, cousins and a lot of family friends - all wearing England shirts and supporting us.''

In the end, Kabir was unable to give his fans the result they craved following their ten-hour and two-hour journeys from England and Mirpur.

''It was obviously disappointing we lost, but they were pleased I did reasonably well,'' he said, reflecting on a result which conceded a 3-1 lead to Pakistan and left England playing only for pride and International Cricket Council ranking points in today's tour-ending fixture at the same venue.

Kabir may be a favourite son of Mirpur and a celebrity in certain corners of the west midlands. But he reports his fame does not yet stretch much further - and he has not had to contend with significant attention on tour, even though he is returning to what was for seven years his home country.

''Nobody recognises me, so I'm all right. It's a bit harder for the likes of Freddie and Harmy,'' he said of two of England's most popular players.

It might have been a little different if Kabir, Ian Blackwell and Anderson had added just a handful more runs to the 83 they put on for the last two wickets after England's top-order batsmen had let their team down.

''When I went out Blacky was batting really well, and he just said 'Keep it simple, take the singles, and if we need to tee off in the last five overs we will','' Kabir recalled.

''Unfortunately he got out, so it never quite happened.''

Even so Kabir did enough in his first competitive outing on this tour to put his name in the frame alongside that of the impressive Liam Plunkett as an option to fit in as a pace-bowling all-rounder once the likes of Harmison - struggling with flu - and the injured Simon Jones are available again.

Kabir figured prominently in last spring's one-day series in South Africa but has taken something of a back seat since.

He hopes now he has improved his prospects of being picked to stay in England's limited-overs squad to tour India next spring as they continue their preparation for the 2007 World Cup.

''Other bowlers have been doing well; then unfortunately for the team Harmison was unwell yesterday, so I got my chance,'' he said.

''I've done well with the ball and then with the bat too in this last game, so I've got my fingers crossed for India.

''I've worked hard over the last couple of years on my batting. I am pleased with the way things are going - I got a few runs in first-class cricket last summer.

''There's more room for all-rounders than just bowlers, so I'm trying to polish my batting."

Kabir has also benefited from the input of Worcestershire's overseas players in recent years - including Pakistan's number one striker bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who spent some time at New Road last summer.

''It was good to have Shoaib around, and I worked quite closely with him. I think I learned quite a bit off him and Chaminda Vaas before him.''

''Shoaib gave me a little bit of nonsense in the middle on Monday," said Kabir. "But he is one of the very good bowlers I look up to. Every overseas player we have, I talk to them quite a bit."