Adil Rashid took a career-best haul before England just did enough in a nervous chase to seal a thrilling and series-clinching three-wicket win over Pakistan in a Twenty20 decider at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Victory gave England the three-match contest 2-1 in their last white-ball fixture of the 2021 home season.

Leg-spinner Rashid took 4-35 as Pakistan were restricted to 154-6 after winning the toss, with Mohammad Rizwan batting through the innings for 76 not out.

England opener Jason Roy, the player of the match, got the chase off to a brisk start with a dashing 64.

But the hosts kept losing wickets before returning captain Eoin Morgan made a useful 21.

Liam Livingstone, the player of the series after scoring England's fastest T20 hundred in the opener at Trent Bridge, struck one six and then holed out before Chris Jordan hit the winning runs with two balls to spare.

- 'Worst pitch for England' - 
"This win means a huge amount," Morgan told Sky Sports. 

"This was the worst possible pitch for the way we play, and we have won on a wicket which is slow and spins so I am very proud."

Pitches in the United Arab Emirates, the venue for October's T20 World Cup, are renowned for taking turn but Morgan said: "I genuinely don't think the ball will spin like that in UAE having played a full season in the IPL (Indian Premier League) there last year, but we are ready for any surfaces that do spin."

Pakistan captain Babar Azam, whose side also loost the preceding one-day international series against England, was left lamenting a lack of runs.

"We were 10 to 15 runs short today," he said. "The partnership between myself and Mohammed Rizwan, if it had developed a bit better, maybe we would have the extra 10 or 15 runs.

"We need to do better against spinners, we haven't struggled as much but haven't batted as well as we could. Some days we have good days and some days we have bad days."

Roy took four boundaries off Shaheen Shah Afridi's first over and swept spinner Imad Wasim for six during a 30-ball fifty but on 64 he skied a catch off leg-spinner Usman Qadir, the son of Pakistan great Abdul Qadir.

Jonny Bairstow holed out cheaply off Wasim and wghen Moeen Ali was bowled by off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez for just one, England were 112-4 off 15 overs.

But with Morgan hitting a couple of fours off Hafeez, England were back on tracck.

Azam, rather than continue with spin, recalled paceman Hasan Ali into the attack only for left-hander Morgan to hoist him for two sixes. 

When Hafeez bowled Dawid Malan for 31, England still needed 12 to win off eight balls.

Livingstone and Morgan then got out in quick succession before a pair of twos from Jordan ended the match.

Spin proved Pakistan's undoing for the second match in a row, with off-spinner Moeen taking 1-19 in addition to Rashid's haul.

Rashid took the first three wickets to fall, a haul that included having Azam stumped for just 11 by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler when the star batsman misread a googly. 

Rashid took a wicket with his last delivery when Shadab Khan holed out, with Rizwan not seeing enough of the strike after completing a 38-ball fifty featuring two sixes.

Scoreboard
Complete scoreboard in the third Twenty20 international between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford on Tuesday:

Pakistan

Mohammad Rizwan not out                76

Babar Azam st Buttler b Rashid         11

Sohaib Maqsood c Roy b Rashid          13

Mohammad Hafeez c Bairstow b Rashid     1

Fakhar Zaman lbw b Moeen Ali           24

Shadab Khan c Livingstone b Rashid      2

Imad Wasim run out (Bairstow/Jordan)    3

Hasan Ali not out                      15

Extras (b4, lb2, w3)                    9

Total (6 wkts, 20 overs)              154

Did not bat: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir, Mohammad Hasnain

Fall of wickets: 1-42 (Azam), 2-67 (Maqsood), 3-69 (Hafeez), 4-114 (Zaman), 5-125 (Khan), 6-129 (Wasim)

Bowling: Willey 2-0-10-0; Mahmood 3-0-33-0 (1w); Jordan 4-0-30-0 (1w); Rashid 4-0-35-4 (1w); Livingstone 3-0-21-0; Moeen 4-0-19-1;

England

J. Roy c Zaman b Qadir                 64

J. Buttler c Azam b Khan               21

D. Malan b Hafeez                      31

J. Bairstow c Maqsood b Wasim           5

Moeen Ali b Hafeez                      1

E. Morgan c Khan b Ali                 21

L. Livingstone c Maqsood b Hafeez       6

C. Jordan not out                       4

D. Willey not out                       0

Extras (lb1, w1)                        2

Total (7 wkts, 19.4 overs)            155 

Did not bat: A Rashid, S Mahmood

Fall of wickets: 1-67 (Buttler), 2-92 (Roy), 3-104 (Bairstow), 4-112 (Moeen), 5-143 (Malan), 6-149 (Livingstone), 7-151 (Morgan)

Bowling: Wasim 4-0-25-1; Afridi 1-0-16-0; Ali 3.4-0-28-1 (1w); Qadir 4-0-35-1; Khan 3-0-22-1; Hafeez 4-0-28-3

Result: England won by three wickets

Player of the match: Jason Roy (ENG)

Series: England win three-match series 2-1

Player of the series: Liam Livingstone (ENG)

Toss: Pakistan

Umpires: Alex Wharf (ENG), David Millns (ENG)

TV umpire: Martin Saggers (ENG)

Match referee: Wayne Noon (ENG)

Previous Results

Jul 16: 1st T20, Trent Bridge, Nottingham: Pakistan won by 31 runs

Jul 18: 2nd T20, Headingley, Leeds: England won by 45 runs 

Broad tips England for T20 World Cup glory
Stuart Broad believes England are on course to win the Twenty20 World Cup after a dramatic victory against Pakistan.

England made it four white-ball series wins from four with a tense three-wicket success at Old Trafford on Tuesday that sealed a 2-1 T20 campaign triumph as they reached a target of 155 with two balls to spare.

Broad, a former England T20 captain, was watching as a member of the Sky Sports' commentary team and the sight of skipper Eoin Morgan lifting silverware had him thinking ahead to October's T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. 

"I was just watching Morgs lift the trophy there and I think we're going to win the World Cup," said Broad, now a Test specialist. 

"We've got so many bases covered. We've got so much depth, they play fearless cricket, I just think we're going to win the World Cup. It's all looking pretty rosy," the England pace great added.

- 'Can't get ahead of yourself' -
But England opener Jason Roy, named player of the match after making 64 off 36 balls on a spin-friendly pitch, was rather more cautious. 

"It's pretty rosy in the garden until it's not!" he said. 

"It's one of those games you can't get too ahead of yourself, especially in T20 cricket. 

"But for us to put in a huge performance like that, when Pakistan were chomping at the bit to right some wrongs from the ODI series, was great."

Meanwhile Morgan, who made a valuable 21 late on, was pleased by England's performance on a surface far removed from their preference for flat pitches full of runs.

"For the style we play naturally, and which we're best at, this is the worst possible wicket to play on," he said. "So it meant a huge amount, it's a very proud day on a spinning, slow wicket."

The foundation for England's victory in Manchester was built on more impressive spin bowling, Adil Rashid taking a career-best 4-35 and Moeen Ali returning miserly figures of 1-19 in four overs.

Liam Livingstone, having bowled three overs of assorted spin, promptly hit his first ball for six amid all the tension of the finish.

Livingstone was out next ball on his Lancashire home ground but, having seen him strike England's quickest T20 hundred in the series opener at Trent Bridge, Roy was in no doubt of his talent.

"He's such a good player, he works hard and has got a lot smarter over the last few years," Roy said.

"I've played with him at Perth Scorchers and knew what he was capable of. To see it first hand is absolutely incredible."

Pakistan improved as their tour went on, with several encouraging individual displays, but Pakistan captain Babar Azam was left lamenting a lack of runs on Tuesday. 

"We were 10 to 15 runs short today," he said. 

"We need to do better against spinners, we haven't struggled as much but haven't batted as well as we could. Some days we have good days and some days we have bad days."