In hindsight, England put up a tough fight with Ballance and Moeen’s score of 70 and 63 respectivelty.
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There were few thrills and spills as Ballance, with his first 50 in his last seven Test innings spread over more than a year, exercised plenty of caution.
The care he took over 150 deliveries, and nearly three-and-a-half hours, spread to Moeen – who batted against his usually carefree instincts.
“We’ve gone for a guy who’s got a proven Test record, who’s taken 120 wickets and has a knack of taking wickets”.
“I watched him and noticed that he (Anderson) doesn’t try to bowl very fast”.
That, though, was as good as it got for England – who will need to improve if they are to earn a first-innings lead on this slow pitch.
“We knew we were going to play and miss a bit, and just tried to steady the ship”.
Sohail found sufficient movement to trouble both batsmen and deserved a breakthrough in his fifth over, when Hales nicked through just when he’d got a start. Whereas 20-year-old Sami Aslam will likely be replacing Shan Masood to open the innings for Pakistan after the later failed to convince the teammates with his performance in both previous Test matches.
Just when it seemed like Alastair Cook (45) was settling in for the long haul after a positive start, he was trapped LBW in the 19th over by Rahat Ali (2-83).
But his seam attack provided some vindication as the new ball swung and Sohail gave the tourists the initial advantage with four of the five wickets so far here, in a series locked at 1-1 with two to play. But they staged a minor comeback before lunch, after initially struggling at 75/3.
But on 39, an uncertain defensive prod outside off stump against Sohail saw Vince edge low to second slip Younis Khan.
Sohail Khan went on to emerge on top of the bowling lineup.
An unconvincing Hales (17) fell when he was caught behind after edging a good-length Sohail ball. Pending security assessments they then leave for the tour of Bangladesh at the end of September – a trip that includes three ODIs and two Tests – before a five-match Test series in India.
Pakistan had seen Sohail Khan, one of their two changes from the side beaten by 330 runs in the second Test at Old Trafford as England levelled the four-match series at 1-1, take five wickets on Wednesday.
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He then injured his knee in the first Test against Sri Lanka in May, which resulted in a month on the sidelines.
