Date-stamped : 19 Dec95 - 10:30 Pakistan 'A' v England 'A', 2nd One-day International Faisalabad. 18 December 1995. Knight helps lay ghost of Faisalabad - Simon Hughes England A (190-3) beat Pakistan A (186-6) by seven wickets THERE was little to cheer about the last time an English team visited this town of bazaars and billowing industrial chimneys. As a grim reminder of the Mike Gatting - Shakoor Rana affair, a large portrait of the umpire hangs in the reception area of the Iqbal stadium. But England A have laid the ghost of Faisalabad to rest with a polished all-round display and the whole squad were briefly con- sumed with elation as Nick Knight thumped a boundary over mid-on to seal their seven-wicket win and clinch the one-day series 2-0. If they can hold off the improving Pakistanis one last time to- morrow, they will emerge from their 11-match tour unbeaten. Even greater cause for celebration especially as there are now only 11 fit men left to play. Jason Pooley has a suspected frac- tured elbow after being struck by a bouncer and Shaun Udal has returned home suddenly because his young daughter has been admitted to hospital with breathing problems. The odd umpiring error did creep in to yesterday`s match but no- one complained and the hosts accepted their defeat with good grace. In spite of their keenness and talent, they knew they had been thoroughly outplayed. The omens were there in the fourth over when Ed Giddins found Shakeel Ahmed`s edge and soon deceived Ijaz junior with a slower ball. Asif Mujtaba was bowled by a no ball from Tim Munton and survived to add 80 with Shahid Anwar, a full member of the block-or-slog brigade. But neither could entirely break out of the stranglehold imposed by measured bowling and the sort of athletic fielding you have come to expect from emerging England players. Their slightly lacklustre outcricket in the Peshawar one-dayer was fortunately just an aberration. On a pallid, featureless strip a target of less than 200 was nev- er going to seriously stretch England Nasser Hussain`s captaincy was not exactly inspiring but these 40-over matches have become so formularised that teams almost run on autopilot. Only a short-lived assault by the all-rounder Azhar Mehmood caused any disruption to the restrictive practices. On a pallid, featureless strip a target of less than 200 was nev- er going to seriously stretch England unless they lost early wickets. So Pakistan could ill-afford Shakeel, the makeshift wicketkeeper, putting down Knight second ball. Knight and Dominic Ostler took advantage of the compulsory close-in field-settings, and one huge pick-up by Knight scattered the largest section of crowd - about 50 construction workers on their tea break. Ostler was cruelly adjudged lbw when he was just getting into his stride, but a Hussain half-century has become more or less an inevitability here, and this one took him only 67 balls and past 600 runs on tour. He has only been out once under 20, but one ball later dragged a drive into his stumps. England required 29 from six overs, and while Knight hared up and down, Jason Pooley stood and delivered until he suffered that rare commodity - a brilliant Pakistani throw - and was run out. Knight continued to accumulate however, and with the occasional waft over mid-wicket, eased them home with nine balls to spare. It was not the most emphatic victory of the tour, but it was the most satisfying. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)