Sharjah: Pakistan defeated England by 127 runs after leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed 4-44 on the last day of the third and final test.
England was bowled out for 156 after lunch on Thursday as Pakistan jumped to No. 2 in the test rankings with a 2-0 victory in the series.
England captain Alastair Cook stood out against the spinners for four hours on a deteriorating wicket before offspinner Shoaib Malik had him stumped for 63 to end up with 3-26 in his farewell test.
Cook was the lone fighter on a sharp turning track and hit four boundaries in his 164-ball knock as all the other English batsmen couldn't cope with the sharp spin of Pakistan's three-pronged spin attack, led by Shah.
The lone consolation for England captain was that he finished as the overall top scorer after making 450 runs in three test matches that included a double century in Abu Dhabi.
Shah and Zulfiqar Babar (2-31) had pushed England to the brink of defeat inside the first 30 minutes when they claimed four wickets as England limped to 59-6.
England then lost four wickets for just 13 runs as Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq deployed his two frontline spinners from the onset after England resumed at 46-2.
Shah trapped Joe Root for lbw off a delivery which kept very low denying the batsman a chance to add to his overnight score of six.
Jonny Bairstow followed Root in similar fashion to another brilliant Shah delivery, before Babar got the outside edge of James Taylor's bat and also had Samit Patel lbw off his first ball.
Adil Rashid and Cook provided some stability by adding 49 runs before Rahat Ali struck and knocked back Rashid's stumps as England limped to 120-7 by lunch.
Cook was the only batsmen who negotiated Shah's long spell, and after surviving a confident lbw appeal off Babar, held one end up before the innings folded after lunch.
Shah had Stuart Broad smartly snapped at square leg by Malik before Anderson and last man Ben Stokes were stumped on a tricky turning wicket.
The five match one-day international series between both sides begins in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 11 before both teams also compete in two Twenty20s.
