England v Pakistan: Strauss's men restore faith in front of a grateful Leeds crowd

Just what Yorkshire's greatest fast bowler would have made of the recent events involving Pakistan may well be a topic of debate for the dignitaries present at a dedication ceremony that will precede the third day of the final County Championship fixture of the season against Kent.

Fred's oft-used phrase, 'I don't know what's going off out there' would, surely, have barely done justice to the 'spot-fixing' allegations that have left an indelible stain on his beloved game.

It is likely to take cricket some time to truly recover from the events of the past fortnight, though at least a start was made yesterday courtesy of a thoroughly entertaining one-day international.

As the Trueman Enclosure hosted England supporters for the first time, Andrew Strauss's men marked the occasion with a four-wicket win as almost 600 runs were scored in front of a capacity 18,500 crowd.

Perhaps more importantly, Pakistan contributed fully to an absorbing contest by setting their hosts a challenging victory target of 295.

The visitors may have subsequently slid to defeat as Strauss hit his second one-day century of the summer to help guide England home with three balls to spare.

But there was still plenty to cheer for the noisy and excitable Pakistani fans who, in contrast to the Test match against Australia in July, had turned out in large numbers to bring a splash of colour and vibrancy to north Leeds. Undoubtedly disappointed to have seen their side lose, they could at least seek solace in England's route to victory being by no means a procession.

Strauss, in particular, enjoyed several let-offs, not least in the 15th over when he gloved a delivery from Umar Gul to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal only to be given not-out.

Had the review system been in operation, his innings would have been over on 38.

The England captain was also dropped by Mohammad Irfan at leg-slip off Shoaib Akhtar on 50, while Mohammed Hafeez was another bowler left bemoaning his luck as an inside edge flew an inch wide of the stumps. Strauss, much to Pakistan's frustration, took full advantage of the let-offs to hit 126 and share in a game-turning second-wicket partnership of 146 with Jonathan Trott.

His efforts ensured that even a late flurry of English wickets could not prevent the home side prevailing as Tim Bresnan cracked two late boundaries to put the home side 2-0 up in the five-game series.

Captain Strauss said: "These sort of victories tend to be better for you than the easy wins. They force you to dig deeper as a side.

"It was not a complete performance, our fielding was shambolic at times. But we have to be pleased at chasing 290-odd, even on a very good wicket.

"I thought the day was good for the game of cricket. It was a very boisterous and noisy crowd, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves."

The game had got underway with Headingley only a quarter full due to congestion at the turnstiles. Those unfortunate enough to still be queueing outside at the scheduled start time of 10.15am missed some sparkling early strokeplay from Kamran Akmal, who took a particular liking to Bresnan as the Yorkshire paceman was smashed to the boundary five times in just seven deliveries.

Inevitably, the scoring rate slowed after Kamran's early onslaught and it was not until the 17th over that he reached his half-century. Nevertheless, there was little doubt as the innings approached the halfway stage that England were badly in need of a breakthrough.

It came in the unusual form of Paul Collingwood, who before yesterday had been called on to bowl only 26 overs in the summer's 10 previous one-day internationals. Just two deliveries into what would be a five-over spell, he trapped Kamran Akmal lbw after the opener had been tempted into an outlandish sweep of a delivery that pitched on off-stump. In contrast, Mohammad Hafeez's innings had been a more cautious affair.

However, any hopes the sizeable Pakistani contingent had of Hafeez opening up in the absence of his opening partner were dashed just three overs later when he was bowled off by Graeme Swann. Mohammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq regained the initiative for Pakistan by putting on 74 in 13 overs, the partnership only being broken when Stuart Broad found the edge of Yousuf's bat.

A stunning catch from Ravi Bopara, who held on despite colliding with Strauss, then accounted for Shafiq. It brought a second wicket for Broad, who ended an eventful 45th over by taking revenge on Umar Akmal for being smashed to the boundary in consecutive balls as Davies took the catch. Jimmy Anderson and Bresnan then claimed a late wicket apiece before Broad dismissed Saeed Ajmal to leave England chasing an eminently gettable target.

DISPLAY OF THE DAY

Andrew Strauss

Far from a chance-free innings by the England captain but he ensured the run-chase remained on course until being trapped by Saeed Ajmal in the 45th over. He hit 10 fours and one six off 134 deliveries.

2nd One-Day International

England v Pakistan

Headingley Carnegie: England beat Pakistan by 4 wkts

Pakistan

Kamran Akmal lbw b Collingwood 74

Mohammad Hafeez b Swann 43

Mohammad Yousuf c S M Davies b Broad 46

Shafiq c Bopara b Broad 50

Akmal c S M Davies b Broad 28

Shahid Afridi c Strauss b Anderson 9

Fawad Alam not out 20

Umar Gul b Bresnan 3

Ajmal c Strauss b Broad 4

Shoaib Akhtar not out 0

Extras lb12 w5 17

Total 8 wkts 294

Fall: 1-122 2-137 3-211 4-246 5-258 6-278 7-284 8-289

Did Not Bat: Mohammad Irfan.

Bowling: Bresnan 9 0 53 1; Anderson 10 1 36 1; Broad 10 0 81 4; Yardy 6 0 43 0; Swann 10 0 43 1; Collingwood 5 0 26 1.

England

A J Strauss lbw b Ajmal 126

S M Davies c K Akmal b Shoaib Akhtar 26

I J L Trott run out 53

P D Collingwood c Sub b Shahid Afridi 19

E J G Morgan c Mo Hafeez b Umar Gul 16

R S Bopara c Mohammad Hafeez b Ajmal 16

M H Yardy not out 13

T T Bresnan not out 10

Extras lb3 w13 16

Total 6 wkts (49.3 overs) 295

Fall: 1-43 2-189 3-220 4-248 5-260 6-282

Did Not Bat: G P Swann, S C J Broad, J M Anderson.

Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 8 0 49 1; Irfan 7 0 40 0; Umar Gul 9.3 0 59 1; Ajmal 10 0 52 2; Shahid Afridi 9 0 59 1; Mohammad Hafeez 6 0 33 0.