Mohammad Rizwan, the wicketkeeper-batter, scored 88 runs, and Haris Rauf excelled in the final few overs as Pakistan won the fourth T20I against England by a score of three runs to even the seven-match series at two games each.
At the halfway point of the game, Pakistan's 166/5 total, which looked below-par because to Rizwan's 88 off 67 balls and nine fours and a six, had England's left-arm spin all-rounder Liam Dawson's team within striking distance of victory.
With three wickets in hand and five consecutive boundaries in the 18th over against Mohammad Hasnain, Dawson's 34 off just 17 balls left the visitors needing five runs to win off the final 10 balls.
Rauf, however, brought Pakistan back in the game again after Dawson got a top edge while drawing a blazing short ball and holed out to mid-wicket.
Rauf (3/32) castled rookie Olly Stone on the very next ball, putting England in a dire situation. As England was out for 163 in 19.2 overs, and Pakistan pulled off a heist in their 200th T20I match, Reece Topley was run out in the penultimate over by an alert Shan Masood, who gathered the ball at mid-on, sprinted towards the non-end, striker's and dislodged the bails with an underarm flick.
Pakistan appeared to have the match in their favour despite having 166 on the board when they raced through the top three to leave England at 14/3 in two overs. For the visitors, Ben Duckett (33), Harry Brook (34) and captain Moeen Ali (29) spearheaded the revival with a brilliant counterattack.
Nevertheless, when the trio was dismissed to leave England at 113/6 in 14.2 overs, Pakistan once more seemed to be in charge of the situation. Prior to Rauf's unexpected change of events, which gave Pakistan a narrow victory, Dawson's outstanding cameo had England cruising to victory.
Rizwan and skipper Babar Azam had had a first-wicket partnership of 97 in 11.2 overs, which appeared to be the start of a significant partnership. But Azam was bowled by Dawson in the 12th over, which marked the beginning of Pakistan's decline. The hosts failed to take advantage of the death overs, adding only 40 runs over the next five overs between Rizwan and Masood.
Khushdil Shah and Rizwan were out on the first two balls of David Willey's final over, and Masood was out after being caught lbw in the penultimate over. Asif Ali, though, produced a flawless finish, smashing two enormous sixes off the three balls he faced to push Pakistan to 166, which was sufficient to secure a thrilling victory.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 166/4 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 88, Babar Azam 36; Reece Topley 2/37, David Willey 1/31) beat England 163 all out in 19.2 overs (Liam Dawson 34, Harry Brook 34; Haris Rauf 3-32, Mohammad Nawaz 3-35) by three runs.