Record defeat for England as Pakistan run riot

England's dismal tour of Pakistan looks set to reach a depressing conclusion following yesterday's 165-run humiliation here in the third one-day international.

England were all out for 188 when Stephen Harmison meekly reverse-swept the gentle off-spin of Shoaib Malik into Shahid Afridi's hands at slip. It was England's heaviest defeat, in terms of runs, in 426 games of limited-overs cricket and it allowed Pakistan to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Pakistan's mammoth 353 for 6 was the highest conceded by England and it would be a major surprise if the hosts failed to win the remaining two one-day matches in Rawalpindi.

"We have been thoroughly beaten in the last two games," Marcus Trescothick, England's stand-in captain, said. "Pakistan outclassed us in most departments and gave us a hiding.

"By scoring more than 350 they put us out of the game. I thought we would be chasing around 300, a total I would back us to chase down on these pitches, but we were never at the party."

Pakistan reached their second-highest one-day total through the brilliant batting of Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi. A withered and despondent bowling attack was hit for 81 runs in the final 43 balls of Pakistan's innings.