Kevin Pietersen believes that his 130 against Pakistan on Tuesday was the best one-day knock he's played - and a very satisfying one at that.

Pietersen had been under heavy pressure heading into the four-match ODI series, and having failed to deliver in the first two clashes, the pressure only intensified.

However, having notched up a ton in the third one-dayer, the right-hander backed it up with another hundred in Tuesday's encounter. England were reduced to 68 for four but a century stand with Craig Kieswetter led the visitors home and Pietersen admits that he found the innings particularly satisfying.

"I'm allowed to say it was probably the best one I've played," said the opener.

"I like to really calm things down and just watch the ball, and play it," he added.

"I thought that the total they had, if I batted for 50 overs and took the game deep and batted with a bit of experience, we could come close.

"I just wanted to take the game deep, and I wanted to target bowlers as well.

"I think that was the key to the success."

While Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal was once again in the wickets, picking up three England scalps, Pietersen managed to see off the man who tormented him during the Test series. On reflection, Pietersen believes that conquering the danger of spin is all down to hard work.

"You need experience, lots of it, in order to keep the situation very simple - and back your ability," he said.

"You need a lot of confidence in your ability.

"When they picked the team and I saw they were going to bowl 40 overs of spin, I was like 'Oh no!'

"But the hard work I've been putting in with Mushy [spin coach Mushtaq Ahmed] has paid off.

"I've spent hours and hours with him. I came in early today, early the other day.

"I'm not the finished article, by any stretch of the imagination.

"But wow, today I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Having whitewashed England in the Test series, Pakistan let it slip in the one-dayers. Prior to these contests, Pakistan had won 14 out of their last 15 ODIs and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq admits that England upped their game and urged his men to forget about the loss and move their focus to the upcoming T20s.

"England have improved, and really batted well since the Test series. They've started playing the spinners well," he said.

"The contribution from the batsmen at the top was remarkable, to get four centuries. That's the main difference between the two teams.

"But Pakistan dropped their performance. In the Test matches, England hardly got 200 in six innings.

"We have to just look forward and forget the ODI series," the skipper added.

"Today we had an improved performance but we could not finish it. But there's a lot of positives from this game and I think we'll do better in the T20s."