2002 – England’s top three have score a fifty in their second innings at home for the first time since 2002 against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
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Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq in action. Despite the ease with which Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali racked up a century stand in the final session, Root said: “There’s still plenty of swing, some spin and a bit of variable bounce”.
The two sides will then play five ODIs and one-off T20.
“Going into that innings, we were behind the eight ball – 100 runs behind in any game is quite a decent margin”.
Bairstow had the flawless companion in Moeen, who went into this Test with the mind-set of playing like the top order batsman he is in county cricket and that he has the talent to be on the Test stage consistently for England.
Pakistan resumed on 257 for three after Azhar had been dismissed off the last ball of Thursday’s play.
Root was not about to give away the likely timing of Cook’s anticipated declaration, but made clear England are beginning to fancy their chances – even on a pitch which has yet to show many signs of deterioration. Sohail Khan, who had come in for some of Arthur’s criticism, drew Cook into driving at a wide delivery which he spooned towards point where Yasir dived full length to his left. “You don’t just wait for a wicket because there are times when you have to go all out to get them by utilising different plans”.
At that stage both openers had gone within nine balls without adding to England’s score, and it needed Root and James Vince to steady the ship in the face of an exceptional spell from Rahat Ali, who bowled five successive maidens.
“Yesterday was tough, but we felt like we deserved more than we got”.
Root’s quest was made more hard when Yasir Shah, Pakistan’s wrist-spinner, went round the wicket (a negative ploy to save runs) and landed the ball in the bowlers’ footholes outside Root’s leg-stump.
“The way we applied ourselves throughout this whole innings has been a magnificent effort”, Root said on Saturday (August 6), after England took their second-innings lead past 300.
Vince though now joined at the crease with Gary Ballance was looking good until he was out for 42 of the bowling of Amir to once again fail to make a half century.
Then in the next over, Hales went too – pushing out at a drive and edging Mohammad Amir low to second slip.
It is only the psychological pressure of batting on the final day of a Test that can open up the faultlines and produce a victor.
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Pakistan squeezed England for two sessions, drying up the runs with defensive field settings on a flat deck, but their ninth dropped catch of the series cost them badly and the failure to press for wickets left open the opportunity of late runs, which was grabbed by Bairstow as he continued his year of dominance.
