But it did not prove enough to get the tourists off the mark in this series, as England continued unbeaten in 10 limited-overs matches since their agonising near miss in the World Twenty20 final.
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“It was a belting wicket with a fast outfield, but at the same time you have to perform well as a batting unit – and someone has to stand out”.
But left-hander Wasim, who made an unbeaten 63 in the second ODI at Lord’s before a knee injury ruled him out at Trent Bridge, struck seven fours and drove Willey for a superb straight six.
He was backed up by Jos Buttler, who scored 90 not out from 51 balls, and Eoin Morgan, who scored 57 at a strike rate of 211.11. “It’s a really wonderful achievement by the team”, he said.
“Who knows the limits of what we can achieve as a team?”
England’s next chance will follow swiftly in Leeds, but Woakes warns they must have some caution before aiming too high again immediately.
England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has named all-rounder Ben Stokes and fast bowler Mark Wood in the Twenty20 worldwide (T20I) squad for the one-off fixture against Pakistan in Old Trafford on September 7.
The pick of these saw Plunkett take a marvellous flying catch at mid-on to dismiss Ahmed, Pakistan’s fourth wicket down.
English opener Alex Hales was not performing from the beginning of the long Pakistan series, after failing from Test series, Hales was even included for the ODI’s without being dropped from the side for even once.
Chris Woakes believes hitting 500 in 50 overs is not totally out of England’s reach as the team prepares for the fourth ODI with Pakistan.
“We hope it can continue”.
But there is no first worldwide call-up yet for young batsman Ben Duckett, as had been mooted in some quarters – while Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow also miss out.
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England have also announced that national team coaches Paul Farbrace and Ottis Gibson will take charge of the opposing teams in next spring’s inaugural North v South matches in the United Arab Emirates.
