Openers Alastair Cook and Alex Hales helped England to a 17-run lead following another intriguing day of the third Test with Pakistan.
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At stumps on day three, England posted 120 for naught, having a lead of 17 runs.
Left-hander Cook was 64 not out and Hales 50 not out, with two days left in the match.
Azhar’s more than six-hour 139, his 10th Test century but first outside Asia, ended when all-rounder Chris Woakes, on his Warwickshire home ground, struck with the new ball to have him edging to England captain Alastair Cook at first slip.
The tourists kept England in the field for almost 10-and-a-half hours in total.
England seamers took two early wickets in the morning before Pakistan had matched England’s first-innings score, but Misbah was defiant and added 62 runs with Ahmed for the sixth wicket.
The right and left-hand combo of Azhar and Aslam put a 181-runs stand for the second wicket.
But Misbah and Sarfraz Ahmed had a productive association that ensured Pakistan would have a handy lead.
The wicket lifted the Birmingham crowd and England stuck again with Pakistan still trailing when Stuart Broad comprehensively bowled Asad Shafiq for an 18-ball duck.
And the last delivery of the day saw Hales complete a 116-ball fifty with a single off the tiring Sohail.
This time, his final transgression appeared marginal but was enough for umpire Joel Wilson to deliver the telling third warning and leave him with hard-working figures of 29.1-7-54-2.
Pakistan resumed on 257 for 3 after Azhar had been dismissed off the last ball on Thursday, but Younis Khan (21 not out overnight) was dismissed by Woakes when he was caught behind for 31 glancing down the legside.
A visibly angry Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, was critical of his bowlers for allowing England back into the game with the series on the line.
Pakistan were 154-1 at tea – Ali missed a sharp caught and bowled chance with 0.482 seconds reaction time – but the breakthrough finally arrived in the evening session.
Anderson shifted Misbah in early afternoon, an under-edge on to boot and then stumps doing the trick, and England’s all-time leading wicket-taker was not shy of showing his appreciation of the turn of events to the outgoing batsman.
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Azhar got a life when Root was late reacting to a sharp chance at second slip, as the England No.3 grassed the opportunity off Anderson in the first over after lunch.
