England end the day at 414/5, with a lead of 311.

By Abdullah Ansari (6th 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.

At the end of Day 3's play, Mickey Arthur said that he was very disappointed with the line and length of his bowlers in the last session. They seemed to heed the advice, as they started off the day bowling much fuller on a consistent line. Soon enough, they got the breakthrough as Cook played an uppish drive on the off-side which was brilliantly taken at backward point by a flying Yasir Shah off Sohail Khan, as the captain was dismissed for 66. Alex Hales perished in the next over as he nicked off to Mohammad Amir, providing a simple catch to Younis Khan; he made 54. Root and Vince came together and batted solidly as Pakistan made a concerted effort to bowl full and wide of off-stump, with the batsmen unwilling to take the bait.

The play continued in a similar manner after Lunch, with Rahat Ali at one point bowling 7 consecutive maidens. Yasir Shah finally made the break-through, with Joe Root top-edging a sweep off Yasir Shah, out for 62. James Vince was very circumspect, but couldn't keep up the discipline as he perished to Mohammad Amir after the 2nd new ball was taken, caught in the slips for a patient 42. Ballance and Bairstow batted through to Tea.

Pakistan continued the tight lines after Tea, and Ballance eventually succumbed to Yasir Shah, caught at leg-slip after making 28, leaving England at 282/5, with a lead of 179 runs. At this point, Pakistan would have felt they had a chance if they got the remaining wickets and limited the target to under 250. Bairstow and Moeen had other ideas, however. With the four-man attack tiring, Moeen took the attack to the bowlers with Bairstow batting excellently as well. The Pakistan team's shoulders drooped as they failed to create chances with both batsman crossing fifty, the partnership going at a run-rate of almost 5 runs an over. England ended the day at 414/5, with a lead of 311 runs.

Summary: The last session has ensured that England are in control of the game. Up until the 6th wicket partnership, Pakistan would've felt they had a chance. But it was not to be, as the limitations of the four-man attack were exposed. A successful fourth innings chase is almost certainly out of the question now, and it's just a matter of when England will declare, and how many overs Alastair Cook feels he needs, to get the ten Pakistan wickets. Pakistan, for their part, are likely to go into the last day in survival mode, and as seen in the past, that is a dangerous thing.

Fall of wickets:

1-126 (Cook, 38.1 ov)
2-126 (Hales, 39.3 ov)
3-221 (Root, 75.1 ov)
4-257 (Vince, 84.1 ov)
5-282 (Ballance, 97.3 ov)

Discuss!