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Alastair Cook admits top order let England down against Pakistan

After the 10-wicket win at The Oval, Pakistan’s Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq said that he believes that his country deserves to be in the number one position in the ICC Test rankings.

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Leg-spinner Yasir took five wickets for 71 runs as England, in their second innings, slumped to 253 all out, setting Pakistan a target of 40 runs.

By the time the championship resumes, England will be practising for their first one-day global against Pakistan – leaving, conceivably, another brief last-minute chance in mid-September for Bayliss to appraise himself in person of the plausible contenders.

At The Oval, he managed just 18 runs over two innings, dropped a routine catch and annoyed the England management by getting himself fined after confronting the third umpire about his first-innings dismissal to a controversial low catch.

Man-of-the-match Younis added: “As a senior player I always want to contribute”.

In between, England has seized control of the series with wins at Old Trafford and Edgbaston.

Pakistan Cricket team is all set to rise to number one ranking in Tests if the results in Sri Lanka and West Indies series go their way.

He and Stuart Broad, whose Twitter observations on the same topic were not appreciated by the match referee, were respectively fined 15 and 20 per cent of their fees for the Test.

Jonny Bairstow hit 81after England had resumed on 88 for four, with fast bowler Sohail Khan having Gary Ballance caught by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for 17.

Moeen Ali, coming off the back of a brilliant first-innings hundred, immediately got off the mark with a flicked four off the pads and he too resolved to remain as fluent as possible as England sought to chip away at their deficit. We knew they were a good side and 2-2 is probably a fair reflection.

Next ball, Bairstow chipped Riaz straight to Azhar in the covers to end a 127-ball innings featuring eight fours. That was his sixth double ton in Test career.

The Yorkshireman top scored with 81, but apart from a last-wicket partnership of 32 between Finn and Anderson there was only going to be one conclusion – one which gives the selectors plenty to ponder.

Asad and Younis scored over four runs an over during their authoritative 150-run stand for the fourth wicket.

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However, if Steve Smith’s side wins the third Test, then it will join Pakistan on 111 points and will be ranked above Misbah’s side when the points are calculated beyond the decimal point. Pakistan now travel to Ireland for two one-day internationals next week before returning to England for five ODIs and a Twenty20.

Pakistan beat England by 10 wickets at The Oval