Rashid, who on debut last October claimed second-innings figures of five for 65 in the drawn first Test with Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, gives England an option of turning the ball away from Pakistan’s glut of right-handers but would only come into the side for a seamer – Steven Finn, based on the current pecking order – with Bayliss impressed by Moeen, his first choice spinner, during his most recent performance with the ball.
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Bairstow was 82 not out and Ali 60 not out after they had added an unbroken 132 for the sixth wicket ahead of Sunday’s final day.
It proved to be a slow-burn initially, but gathered a fierce momentum – much as Bairstow and Moeen had the previous evening.
England captain Alastair Cook has praised his side for battling back to win the third Test with Pakistan at Edgbaston.
England had been well-placed at 120 without loss overnight.
Azhar, following his first-innings 139, also looked untroubled as England turned to the spin of Moeen and Joe Root before the interval, though the Edgbaston pitch has showed few signs of breaking up and offering greater assistance to the tweakers.
England, and Anderson, strike with the fifth ball after tea as Yasir Shah fends one off the shoulder of the bat to third slip.
Anderson had to be taken out of the attack towards the end of Pakistan’s first innings, for the second time this year, for running on the pitch.
A 2-1 lead in the four-match series is an especially gratifying outcome for Cook.
But Pakistan soon removed both batsmen.
But Finn’s first wicket of the series was a big one, that of Misbah-ul-Haq with a good delivery that held its line for another caught-behind.
“They started off the first session not too badly and all they had to was play intelligent, solid cricket for another half a session but they couldn’t last the distance”.
Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire leg-spinner, will enter England’s thinking for the fourth Test against Pakistan at The Oval on Thursday, as the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, ponders the side’s options before the winter tours to Bangladesh and India.
James Vince dropped Rahat Ali (15 not out) an over later and injured his finger in the process. Root appeared to be having problems with his back, a long-standing issue he manages, and at one stage need attention from the physio.
They hit 16 boundaries between them and impressed Root.
But five balls after the break, Shah edged James Anderson, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, to Alex Hales in the slips.
Vince, yet to make a fifty in nine Test innings, had been composed in equalling his highest score at this level of 42.
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Aslam’s defensive ability, and his awareness of exactly where his off-stump is in leaving the moving Dukes ball in particular, has been impressive for someone playing in just his fourth worldwide fixture. This pressure resulted in Azhar being caught in the slips in the 31st over.
