Yasir Shah was the star-performer for Pakistan with the ball as he picked up his five wickets whereas Wahab picked two wickets.With an individual score of 81, Jonny Bairstow was the leading scorer for England in the second innings.
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Wahab’s impact in his first spell had been tempered by the attentions of umpire Bruce Oxenford, who handed him his second warning for following through on the pitch.
England resumed in trouble at 88 for four, 126 runs adrift. Woakes was nowhere near getting back.
Gary Ballance was on four and Bairstow on 14.
But Sohail Khan made the breakthrough on an overcast morning when his lifting delivery had Ballance, carelessly flirting outside off stump, caught behind for 17.
And he struck again just before lunch when he had first-innings century-maker Ali caught behind for 32.
Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali tried to fix the damage with a 65-run partnership but once leg-spinner Yasir Shah dismissed England’s first innings centurion Ali for 32, the writing was on the wall for England. Yasir Shah was their wrecker-in-chief, picking up 5/71. Anticipating the spin, Moeen was instead suckered by extra bounce, and Sarfraz behind the stumps took a sharp edge with a hint of a juggle.
The Bangladesh Test series will begin in October now, which will give more opportunities for change after a deflating draw against Pakistan.
It meant that Yasir finished the series with 19 wickets at 40.73 – but 15 at 18.13 in his two Tests in London. His latest innings took Bairstow to 992 Test runs in 2016 and in sight of breaking Zimbabwe great Andy Flower´s record for most Test runs scored by a wicket-keeper in a calendar year of 1,045 set in 2000.
Yasir could not apply the coup de grace to England’s innings.
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For Pakistan, however, the glory was absolute – sealed by Azhar with a mighty six into the top tier of the pavilion off Moeen, and on their nation’s Independence Day holiday to boot. Bairstow and Chris Woakes have the calibre to carve out a lead of some description, but Pakistan’s determination to secure a share of the series has been palpable throughout this contest.
