England and Pakistan are level at 1-1 as the Test series enters its third chapter at Edgbaston.
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Yorkshire’s Gary Balance was the highest scoring Englishman of the day, as he contributed 70 to the scoreboard, with Moeen Ali scoring 63.
“Throughout my time as captain there’s always been something up for discussion and at the moment it’s the middle order”, said Cook.
Ballance exercised plenty of caution, taking over 150 deliveries in nearly three-and-a-half hours at the crease, but he added: ” I felt very good today.
Misbah said: “I think it’s important that we should set a trend – no one is bigger than the game”.
“Guys were getting starts but weren’t able to kick on, but overall we’re pretty happy with it”.
“Unless the pitch changes a lot from what I saw yesterday (Monday) – we still have the right to change – we’ll be going with the four seamers and one spinner”, opening batsman Cook added.
Sohail found sufficient movement to trouble both batsmen and deserved a breakthrough in his fifth over, when Hales nicked through just when he’d got a start.
England celebrate the wicket of Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez on the second day of the third Test at Edgbaston on August 4, 2016.
Rahat Ali had Captain Alastair Cook trapped for lbw at 45, before England reached lunch at 100 for 3. Bairstow, man of the series against Sri Lanka in the early part of the summer, was another to fall to Sohail, whose maiden five-wicket haul in his first Test in five years proved crucial to Pakistan’s progress.
The 32-year-old Sohail, who played the last of his two test matches in 2011, took two wickets in each of the first two sessions before wrapping up the innings by trapping James Anderson leg before wicket.
Vince and Ballance had a decent stand of 69 for the fourth wicket before Sohail dismissed his Karachi Kings teammate Vince, with Younus Khan taking a blinder at second slip as the right-hander’s knock 39 came to end. We see them as a fundamental to England’s batting.
Along with Anderson, that pair will hope to prove England’s first-innings score, while not imposing might still yet be a match-winning one.
England also have selection worries with the injury to Ben Stokes that ruled him out of the third Test.
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Sohail was recalled in place of Wahab Riaz as Pakistan broke up the all left-arm pace attack they had deployed for the first two Tests of this four-match contest following England’s 330-run series-levelling win at Old Trafford.
