Brendon McCullum has vowed England will learn from yet another agonising loss which has left their bid to make next weekend’s tri-series final hanging in the balance.

Three days after Sri Lanka chased a staggering 430 in Rawalpindi, England looked set to break their duck in the tournament when they reduced Pakistan to 154 for nine in their pursuit of 242 in Lahore.

Shadab Khan had other ideas, though, as his maiden international hundred with just number 11 batter Haris Rauf for support sealed an unlikely one-wicket victory and a third defeat in a row for England.

Harry Brook’s side are now all but eliminated from the tri-series and their exit will be confirmed on Tuesday if Pakistan get beaten by Sri Lanka, who then face England on Thursday in the final group game.

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Good lessons

McCullum admitted the past few days have been bruising for his team but, with the 50-over World Cup in southern Africa in 12 months’ time in mind, he believes this has been a worthwhile experience.

“We will learn from this,” England’s white-ball head coach said. “The boys are gutted, to be honest.

“They were gutted after the last game and they’re even more gutted after this one.

“These boys are immensely talented, they’re incredibly driven to perform for England, we know that we’re not the best side that we can be just yet but that’s the challenge that’s in front of us.

“There’s some good lessons and learning opportunities and we will learn from it because we are desperate to get to South Africa and have a realistic chance of challenging for that World Cup.”

Conversations

Shadab’s 113 not out is the highest score by a number eight in ODIs and he impeccably marshalled the chase as Rauf faced just 19 balls in an unbroken last-wicket stand of 89 off 80 deliveries.

It meant that Ben Duckett’s 105 in England’s 241 all out – a total that looked below-par only for a collective effort from their bowlers to take them to the brink of victory – was in a losing cause.

Asked what they could have differently, McCullum replied: “It’s so fresh.

“We’ll look at it in the next little while, go through all the footage, the data and analytics and look at some of the options if we’re placed in that situation another time.

“They are the conversations we are having and we need to keep having.

“When you’ve got an inexperienced line-up and you’ve got a big World Cup in 12 months’ time and you’ve only got 20 games between now and then, you need to have that level of communication and those examples of real time experiences.”

Drama

Shadab was given out lbw to Gus Atkinson on 97 and the teams were even shaking hands, only for a hopeful review to show the all-rounder had grazed the ball with his bat.

There was more drama when the umpire failed to signal a wide from Sam Curran’s final ball of an over, prompting Rauf and Will Jacks into a confrontation as tensions rose.

Joe Root had to separate former Yorkshire team-mate Rauf from Jacks and it was the tail-end batter who had the last laugh as Pakistan, clad in pink to raise awareness for breast cancer, sealed victory with a four to leave England feeling blue.

Assessing the coming together between Rauf and Jacks, McCullum said: “It’s just cricket.

“Teams are playing for their country and it means a lot.

“There are pressure situations and moments where we get a little bit confrontational but it’s just the way it is.

“There’s no malice in it.

“I know Haris very well, he’s a good competitor and so is Will Jacks, and you’d expect nothing else from that.”