As a result, England’s five-man attack will again feature four seamers and off-break bowler Moeen Ali as the specialist spinner.
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On Day Two, Azhar Ali and Yasir Shah, the overnight batsmen will seek to continue in a positive manner.
England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat in the fourth and final Test against Pakistan at The Oval on Thursday. They struggled through the early goings and were at one point reduced to 5 for 110. Bairstow made 55 and Chris Woakes 45.
Pakistan were 196 for three in reply to England’s 328 at tea on Friday’s second day, a deficit of 132 runs, as they battled to square the four-match series at 2-2. Ali reached yet another hundred.
Debutant Iftikhar Ahmed was hoisted over mid-wicket for six and, with number 11 Anderson for company, Moeen repeated the feat off Yasir Shah to reach three figures and bring teammates and spectators to their feet.
However, the 29-year-old’s innings on Thursday was the third of his Test centuries and the second of his season after his 155 not out against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street in May.
Sohail Khan bowled 20.4 over for his five wickets against 68 runs.
“You know that generally days two and three are the best days to bat and Pakistan, having bowled us out on day one, have earned the right to bat on a good pitch, but we stuck to our plans pretty well”.
“To be honest the ball behaved abnormally after lunch as English bowlers were able to reverse it after just 32 to 34 overs”, one senior Pakistan player told Sport360.
Cook was part of the previous England team that took over at the top of the Test rankings and, while his side could replicate that feat this week, the skipper does not feel they are yet at that same level.
Pakistan’s four-man attack have exhausted badly in the latter stages of recent Tests, although they could be bolstered at The Oval by the inclusion of Iftikhar Ahmed, a top-order batsman who bowls off-spin in place of the struggling Mohammad Hafeez.
Joe Root moved fluently to 26 before he nicked a fired-up Wahab Riaz to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and the left-armer produced another venomous delivery to account for James Vince (one) in similar fashion.
But he was soon into his stride with a boundary later in the same over although was dropped on nine at third slip by Azhar Ali off Mohammad Amir.
Amir was bowling well too, but his reward would not come – and when Azhar put down a straightforward slip chance, the left-armer kicked the ground in understandable frustration.
Azhar made 49 before he was caught off the glove by ‘keeper Jonny Bairstow off Moeen Ali.
Before play began players, officials and spectators observed a minute’s silence in memory of the 72 people killed during an explosion at a hospital in Quetta, south-west Pakistan, on Monday.
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Pakistan greats Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis may have been the modern pioneers of reverse swing in the 1990s but England, led by James Anderson, managed to make the ball “go the other way” at Edgbaston.
