England 120/0, lead by 17 runs after Pakistan scored 400.

By Abdullah Ansari (5th August, 2016)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss, Misbah-ul-Haq chose to bowl first.

Teams

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali.

England: AN Cook (c), AD Hales, JE Root, JM Vince, GS Ballance, JM Bairstow (wk), MM Ali, CR Woakes, SCJ Broad, ST Finn, JM Anderson.

Pakistan started the day in a good position, just 40 runs behind England with 7 wickets in hand. Younis Khan was joined at the crease by Misbah-ul-Haq. The former's stay was brief - he looked slightly more comfortable at the crease than on Day 2, but once again succumbed to a nick down the legside off Chris Woakes. Asad Shafiq came in and struggled a little as he faced a number of balls without making a run, and eventually got bowled by Stuart Broad without upsetting the scoreboard. Sarfraz Ahmed was the new batsman and he finally offered some support to Misbah.

The two batsman got through to Lunch, and continued after as Misbah batted well, reaching a fifty as he defended with soft hands, with edges not carrying to the slips. He played some good shots off the pacers, and typically attacked Moeen Ali when he came on, but his stay was eventually cut short as he chopped one onto his Stumps from Jimmy Anderson after making 56. Before his dismissal, Pakistan were 358/5. The innings unravelled quickly after that, as Yasir Shah and Mohammad Amir fell in quick succession; the former to a second run-out in the innings and the latter LBW to Woakes. Jimmy Anderson, in the meantime, was taken out of the attack for running onto the pitch after two prior warnings, but it was too little, too late for Pakistan. Sohail Khan and Sarfraz put up some resistance before the former perished LBW also, to Broad. Sarfraz then attempted to farm the strike, but failed to up the ante as England put their fielders on the boundary while he was on strike. Pakistan got to 400, but Rahat fell straight after, caught in the slips with Sarfraz unbeaten on 46 at the other end. Pakistan thus lost their last 5 wickets for 42 runs, and their last 8 for 143.

Pakistan's lead was 103, and they would have felt reasonably confident with that though they should have had more. Out of the previous 9 occasions when Pakistan took a first innings lead of >100 in England, the only loss was due to forfeiture, with 4 wins and 4 draws. Alastair Cook and Alex Hales came out to bat with both batting against their nature; Cook batting at a fast rate, and Hales extremely reserved. The opening bowlers struggled to generate many chances with Sohail Khan in particular struggling with his line. The others also disappointed, as no one was able to create any openings. Pakistan then turned to Yasir Shah, who also failed to generate much turn, with England playing everything Pakistan could throw at them with comfort. They went past Pakistan's lead of 103 late in the day, ending at 120/0, a lead of 17 runs.

Summary: An excellent day for England, as they first wrapped up Pakistan's innings in two sessions while keeping the scoring rate down, then survived the evening session unscathed. Pakistan will be very disappointed at how it all panned out, as some of the batsmen succumbed to indifferent shots, while the bowling was extremely flat. They will look back to the dismissal of Azhar Ali on Day 2, then Misbah on Day 3 as the turning moments of the game. A tough fourth innings' chase beckons.

Fall of wickets:

4-274 (Younis Khan, 97.4 ov)
5-296 (Asad Shafiq, 105.6 ov)
6-358 (Misbah-ul-Haq, 120.1 ov)
7-367 (Yasir Shah, 122.4 ov)
8-368 (Mohammad Amir, 123.6 ov)
9-386 (Sohail Khan, 127.6 ov)
10-400 (Rahat Ali, 135.6 ov)

Discuss!