At The Oval, May 22. England won by 39 runs. Toss: England. England took full advantage of a perfect pitch and the absence of both Wasim Akram (with a stress fracture of the left shin) and Waqar Younis (back trouble) to run up a total of 302. Stewart, on his home ground, again revelled in opening, scoring his first one-day international century, in 140 balls with ten fours, while Fairbrother and Hick added 93 in just 11 overs. Even against a severely weakened attack, Stewart's innings was of the highest quality, establishing a platform which the later batsmen eagerly clambered aboard – none with more glee than Hick, whose unbeaten 71 took only 51 balls. Fairbrother persisted in his run-a-ball 63 even after pulling a hamstring and needing a runner.

Pakistan's response at Lord's had been disappointing, but here they showed the defiance of world champions. Needing a flying start, Ramiz Raja and Aamir Sohail opened with 81 in 14 overs, and the chase continued above the required rate. When three wickets fell inside six overs for 30 runs, however, England could breathe a little easier. Botham then won a crucial lbw decision against Javed Miandad, and a magnificent contest was all over – bar the after-match shouting, with Miandad alleging Botham had uttered a swear word in his moment of triumph. Receipts from the first two games of this series topped £1 million.

Man of the Match: A. J. Stewart. Attendance: 15,031; receipts £348,114.

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