Cook could have forced follow on but went against it and with a lead of 391 Cook and Co. came out to bat again.
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England captain Alastair Cook admits Ben Stokes is a major doubt for next week’s third Test at Edgbaston after the all-rounder sustained a calf injury on the fourth and final day of this series-levelling victory in Manchester.
Joe Root made a Test-best 254 and England captain Alastair Cook 105, his 29th Test century.
After the humbling suffered from the hands of Yasir Shah in the first Test, Cook, along with double centurion Joe Root, set a solid platform on Day 1.
He couldn’t compete with the strike-rate of Root, though, who reached his joint-fastest fifty off 38 balls – milking the attack and deploying the slog-sweep and switch-hit to damaging effect.
But Cook looked both relieved and elated after England completed a win that puts them back on track to complete a full house of Test trophies against the nine other nations.
Pakistan were 161 for five at tea and three balls later that became 163 for six when Sarfraz Ahmed was caught down the legside by opposing wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow off Woakes. He will take no further part in the game, although England are unlikely to need him as Pakistan lost three more wickets after lunch.
“It was us showing the standard of cricket we can play”, he said.
Earlier, Pakistan put an ordinary batting performance in the first innings where they were bowled out for 198 in comparison to England’s 589-run score in the first innings.
The hosts won with a day to spare at Old Trafford to level the series.
Asad Shafiq (39) began with two boundaries and along with Misbah-ul-Haq (35), he added 43 runs for the fifth wicket.
‘We know if we get a bit of pace and bounce in the wicket it does suit our bowlers, ‘ said Cook.
Moeen Ali took two wickets as England moved closer to victory in the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Monday.
The 42-year-old observed that although Pakistan’s top-order batsmen are getting a good start, they are failing to capitalize it into bigger innings, the area which requires a room for improvement according to Misbah.
“(They can) come in at two or three (wickets down) for a lot of runs, rather than three or four for not many. “We could have scored around 400 in the first innings – the ball wasn’t doing anything much”.
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“I had a good think to myself about a few things and it is good to see it pay off and be able to turn it round so quickly”.
