A different venue, another almighty choke by England. Three days after they failed to defend 430 against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi, Harry Brook's bowlers allowed Pakistan's last-wicket pair – inspired by an astonishing century from Shadab Khan – to put on an unbroken 89 in Lahore.

It's debatable which failure was worse, not least because Pakistan were chasing only 242 after Ben Duckett's skillful century had given England at least something to defend. But when Will Jacks bowled Razaullah to make it 154 for nine, thousands of fans began to leave the Gaddafi Stadium in anticipation of a home defeat.

Their pessimism seemed reasonable: England had won this game as much as they appeared to have beaten Sri Lanka on Thursday. And when Gus Atkinson's exceptional yorker trapped Shadab leg-before with Pakistan still 21 short, they were celebrating a win that, for a few moments, appeared to have got their 50-over fortunes back on track.

Almost as an afterthought while he trudged off, Shadab asked for a review – and to the delight of both him and his partner Haris Rauf, the technology revealed the thinnest of inside edges. Suddenly, England had to rouse themselves once more.

Moments later, with emotions on both sides running high, Rauf had to be held back by umpire Rashid Riaz and Joe Root after becoming involved in a verbal spat with Will Jacks at mid-on.

But Shadab held his nerve, squeezing Atkinson between two men on the off-side ring for the boundary that brought up his first One Day International (ODI) century – and only the third by a player of any nationality from No8 or below – then timing the next ball through square leg.

And after he hit Atkinson down the ground for six, Rauf cracked the next ball, from debutant seamer Henry Crocombe for a gun-barrel four, then hurled his bat high in the air as England's fielders stood motionless in disbelief. Lightning does strike twice – just in different cities.

That boundary took Rauf's contribution to the partnership to seven out of 89, but no matter: this was the highest last-wicket stand to seal an ODI run-chase, beating the 64 added by West Indians Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts against Pakistan at Edgbaston during the 1975 World Cup.

Well though they batted, England again paid the price for an attack whose qualities do not include the ability to finish a side off. 

With Jofra Archer sitting out this tour, and both Sonny Baker and Adil Rashid missing the last two games, they were unable to build on the excellent mid-innings work of Jamie Overton and spinner Liam Dawson.

Atkinson was a threat with the new ball, bowling Babar Azam with a beauty that nipped back through the gate, but Crocombe was erratic in his first game for England, going at more than nine an over either side of having opener Saim Ayub caught at slip, while Sam Curran was tidy without looking like taking a wicket.

'I didn't think we went wrong with the ball, to be honest,' said Brook, doing his best to maintain a brave face. 'We probably didn't quite get enough runs on the board.'

Even after three defeats out of three, England can still qualify for the final of this tri-series, but they will need Pakistan to beat Sri Lanka on Tuesday, and will then have to beat Sri Lanka themselves two days later. Even then, they will need their net run-rate to be better than Sri Lanka's.

But of more concern to Brook and white-ball head coach Brendon McCullum will be the manner in which they have contrived to lose two games they had in the bag, stopping in its tracks the 50-over progress they had made earlier in the year with successive series wins over Sri Lanka away, then at home against India and Sri Lanka.

And while the bowlers failed to finish off the match, the batsmen – with the exception of Duckett, and a last-wicket stand of 40 between Atkinson and Crocombe – were just as culpable.

As if still in a daze after the defeat by Sri Lanka, Tom Banton and Root were tamely caught at extra cover and point during Shaheen Shah Afridi's opening spell, before Brook was run out going for a second by a stunning pick-up and throw from Razaullah at long leg. 

To the annoyance of the former pros in the commentary box, Brook failed to dive for the crease.

Jordan Cox gave slip-catching practice to make it 52 for four, before Duckett and Curran added 93. Even then, after another flurry of wickets, it needed the last pair to drag them towards 241.

For most of Pakistan's reply, it looked like being enough. But Shadab is a fighter, hitting five sixes, and Rauf got stuck in, leaving England to wonder exactly what kind of cushion they will need to ensure victory over Sri Lanka in a few days' time.