England produced what was arguably their finest victory in one-day cricket here last night when, chasing an epic 305 to win the first of their three matches against Pakistan, they reached their target with five wickets and 16 deliveries to spare.

This was the fourth highest successful chase in international oneday history; only India (316), Australia (also 316) and Sri Lanka (313) have done better. England's previous best was the 286 for four they scored against New Zealand at Old Trafford in 1986.

In an exciting chase, England overcame not only one of the world's leading one-day sides but also some umpiring problems and the early loss of both openers.

A partnership of 114 in 18 overs between the captain, Nasser Hussain (73), and Graeme Hick (56) made it all possible. But even when Hussain was fourth out at 164 in the 31st over England's hopes looked far fetched.

Andrew Flintoff, with 84 from just 59 balls, and Graham Thorpe, with an unbeaten 64 (63) then added 138 for the fifth wicket in just 16 overs. Flintoff had scored just one 50 for England before this, and that on his one-day debut in April last year.

He hit six muscular fours and three sixes. In successive overs he pulled Abdur Razzak and Wasim Akram over the ropes and then - a remarkable shot this - he checkdrove Waqar Younis for another six before falling just before the end. Thorpe's contribution was less vivid but equally important.

But just when England thought it was safe to go back into the hot water of another Pakistan tour they discovered it can still leave scald marks.

They were only four balls into their first meaningful innings in this country for 13 years when something happened that stirred uncomfortable memories of the umpiring of Shakeel Khan and Shakoor Rana, whose deeds did so much to dissuade them from returning.

Wasim appealed for a catch behind against Alec Stewart. Stewart, who did not appear to touch the ball, stood his ground. The umpire, Riazuddin, did not move either. But then, under intense pressure from the fielding side, the official gave Stewart out, some five seconds after the original appeal.

Somebody suggested that Riazuddin was merely giving Stewart the chance to walk. But the umpire, his eyes dancing nervously from fielder to fielder, appeared to be intimidated into making a poor decision.

Stewart showed dissent. First, he dropped his bat in an abject attitude of disbelief. Then he started a slow, head-shaking return to the dressing room. It was deja vu.

England's attitude has been commendably positive but just over a week into their long-awaited tour all those primeval fears, of dazzling batting, fizzing fast bowling and iffy umpiring, not to mention the sweaty heat and the turbulent tummies, had all turned out to be true. But England's response to this setback was emphatic. The Pakistan innings was a beast of a thing. It attacked the England bowlers with a chilling voracity at the start and then slumbered in a post-prandial, lip-smacking sort of way before slaying once more with even greater intensity in the final overs, the last 10 of which yielded 106 runs.

Its pattern was set by their openers, Saeed Anwar and Imran Nazir, who plundered 21 runs from the first 12 deliveries. The 50 came up in the eighth over and by the end of the important 15-over stage 92 has been scored.

Imran Nazir was third out, at 97, but Inzaman-ul-Haq, who started slowly before awaking to the fact that he was playing a crucial innings, then added 100 in 26 overs with Yousuf Youhana.

By the time Inzamam was fifth out for an 87-ball 71 the remarkable Razzak was already into his electric stride. He hit White, Ealham and Darren Gough for audacious sixes and there were also five fours in his 40-ball unbeaten 75.

Gough and White together cost 141. They looked shell-shocked. It seemed unlikely that before the day was through they would be sharing a jig or pure joy.

Although Hussain remained cautious about the victory, which puts England 1-0 ahead in the threematch series, he admitted: "This is the most satisfying and pleasing one-day victory I've been involved with and I was very proud of my team and the character they showed."