England held their nerve to clinch a narrow 12-run Stanford Super Series victory over Middlesex in a low-scoring affair at Coolidge.

Kevin Pietersen's team - on the island for the prestigious 20*20 for 20 on Saturday - avoided the ignominy of defeat to county cricket's champions despite posting a modest 121 for four.

There is much work to be done before taking on the Stanford Superstars for the massive cash bonanza - and England's players stayed behind after the contest to address the most pressing, namely catching under the floodlights here.

A handful of chances went down today after half-a-dozen yesterday in the match between Trinidad & Tobago and the Superstars.

"To rush straight into a game is probably not ideal," admitted Pietersen. "We know the areas we need to work on and catching is definitely one of those.

"We haven't had much practice yet under them but we have done so tonight and we will be doing so again during the break against Trinidad & Tobago and after that match.

"It's a big fixture we have got on Saturday, so there won't be too much time for feet up."

A late blitz from young star Dawid Malan, who finished unbeaten on 45, briefly threatened to cause an upset but Ed Joyce's departure going for a six in the penultimate over left an unthinkable 18 required from the last, sent down by Andrew Flintoff.

But ultimately this was another turgid contest dominated by the bowlers thanks to the slow surface at the Stanford ground.

"The only thing that surprised me was the pitch," said Middlesex captain Shaun Udal. "It was slow and low and I think straight-batted shots rather than cross-batted will be the way to go.

"But as we have seen in Twenty20, one performance can win a game and all in all this was not a bad warm-up."

It took an unbeaten 39 from Owais Shah against his county colleagues to ensure England posted a run-a-ball target.

England's mid-innings had been stifled when Middlesex spin duo Udal and Murali Kartik began their partnership with their opponents 36 for none after six overs.

It was Indian left-armer Kartik who bagged the prize scalp of Pietersen with a delivery which lured the batsman down the track and spun sharply to create a stumping chance.

Ian Bell was run out soon after the spinners came on, after turning to leg, and being left short by Neil Carter's direct hit.

Kartik - who earlier reprieved Bell with a drop at slip off new-ball bowler Tim Murtagh - then bowled Matt Prior, who attempted to cut off his stumps, clearly frustrated at the lack of boundary opportunities.

Udal finished with brilliant figures of 4-0-14-0 but there would have been reward in the final column but for an extraordinary gaffe by Andrew Strauss.

Dangerman Flintoff had not got off the mark when Udal induced a false flick but Strauss somehow contrived to drop the simplest of catches to great hilarity in the middle.

"That was one for Auntie's Bloomers," said Udal. "He just lost it in the lights apparently."

Shah rode his luck to top score, an innings which included two lives, gifted to him by Joyce and Murtagh in the deep.

Both Shah and Flintoff blasted sixes off one Murtagh over to boost the scoring rate but Eoin Morgan bucked the trend of dropped catches when he held a lofted chance from Flintoff at long-off and kept his boots from touching the rope.

Ryan Sidebottom came in for his first England match since the Edgbaston Test defeat in early August due to Steve Harmison reporting unwell on arrival on the island.

Left-armer Sidebottom was plagued by injury at the end of the home season but, after injections and rehabilitation to his back and groin, declared himself fit for this week.

No longer an automatic choice, despite being England's reigning player of the year, Sidebottom made the first breakthrough when Strauss was bowled aiming a horrible slog to leg - but was troubled by a calf niggle and subsequently spent most of the innings off the field, after sending down just two overs.

Flintoff, wearing one of Harmison's shirts, might have added a second in his first over but Joyce's sliced drive travelled through the hands of Paul Collingwood at point on its way for four.

Skied chances have been the real problem on this ground to date, however, and Pietersen put down one when Carter drove at Stuart Broad.

It did not prove costly as Samit Patel expertly pouched Carter's top-edged pull at fine leg off Flintoff shortly afterwards.

Without frontline spinners to rely, England's attack opted for different methods to restrict.

Broad banged the ball in short and was rewarded with a spell of 4-0-13-1, his success coming when Morgan spliced one to mid-on.

Malan introduced himself with a sliced cut for four off Broad and then lofted Pietersen's off-spin for six, a feat repeated by Joyce, as Middlesex showed the value of keeping calm and wickets in hand.

But needing 41 from the final four overs proved too much and Flintoff and James Anderson closed out the match.