England ended their losing streak in one-day cricket and tasted success for the first time in the United Arab Emirates as they beat Pakistan by 130 runs in the first one-day international on Monday.

Pakistan went into the series as the heavily-fancied side after their 3-0 series sweep in the Tests, particularly as England's one-day outfit were whitewashed 5-0 in India on their last outing.

But captain Alastair Cook stroked an elegant and assured century to give England the steady total that they needed - a competitive 260 for seven - and the bowlers, led by Steven Finn, responded with a relentless effort that saw Pakistan bowled out for 130 in just 35 overs.

A superb opening spell from Finn had Pakistan's top four all back in the pavilion with the score on just 40, before England's spinners Samit Patel and Graeme Swann picked up the baton and ensured that there would be no fightback from the middle order.

Finn trapped both Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq lbw with the first two deliveries of his second over, and then had both Younis Khan and Imran Farhat caught behind by Craig Kieswetter.

Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq remained the danger, but he was trapped lbw by Patel in the over after drinks to mark the beginning of the end for Pakistan.

The 'home' side had failed to build a partnership, and that trend continued as first Patel spooked Shoaib Malik into an ill-advised shot, and then Swann had Umar Akmal stumped.

Shahid Afridi responded by smashing the first two balls of Patel's next over through the off side for four, but his dashing ways were always likely to catch up with him and he holed out to long-on later in that over for a top score of 28.

The tail dragged out proceedings for a further nine overs, but Stuart Broad ended the match when he had Ajmal caught in the deep to complete a comprehensive victory.

Cook had been the hero with the bat as he recorded his third ODI ton and was eventually out for 137. At one stage England looked on course for an even bigger score, but after Cook was bowled by Saeed Ajmal, the scoring was pegged back and the tourists had to settle for 260, mainly due to Ajmal's 5 for 48.

After winning the toss, the England captain decided he and new opening partner Kevin Pietersen would front up to the Pakistan bowlers who were in confident mood after dismantling the visiting batsmen during the Test series.

The duo endured some nervy moments as both Pietersen and Cook were given out lbw early on, but both enjoyed the saving grace of the Umpire Decision Review System.

Unlike Cook, Pietersen (14) was unable to take advantage of the lifeline and after putting on 57 for the first wicket, the former captain misread Afridi and saw his bails go crashing. One ball later Jonathan Trott suffered the same fate and England suddenly had visions of the Test series when their batting suffered numerous collapses.

However, Ravi Bopara came to join his skipper and the pair put on 131 to put England back on course. Bopara patiently worked the ball around the Sheik Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and reached fifty off 69 balls, just minutes after Cook reached a well-earned three figures.

Eoin Morgan failed to make an impact, while Craig Kieswetter's demotion down the order also proved unsuccessful for him as both were victims of Ajmal's wily off-spinners. After Stuart Broad pushed a tame catch back to the world's number one-ranked bowler it was left to Patel (17 not out) and Swann (12 not out) to see out the final overs and get England to the 260 mark.