ENG v PAK, 3rd Test Day 3 Review: Cook, Hales give firm reply as England regain control

Skipper Alastair Cook and Alex Hales batted firmly to give England the control at the end of day three. After folding up Pakistan before the Tea session, the opening pair batted sturdily and forged an unbeaten 120 run partnership to deny Pakistan any moment of delight in the final session and end the day on a high.

Pakistan, who ended the day two trailing England by 43 runs with a score of 257/3 at stumps, finished 400 all out gaining a good lead of 103 runs. The Pakistan bowlers, however, could not create an impact with the new ball and were dealt with ease by the right hand-left hand pair of Cook and Hales.

The day began on a shaky note for Pakistan after they lost Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq cheaply in the morning session. Younis Khan could add only ten runs to his overnight score before Chris Woakes dismissed him for 31 while Shafiq was cleaned up by Stuart Broad for a duck.

However, Misbah ul Haq and wicket-keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed held things together and stitched up a 62 run stand together and take the Pakistan score past the 350 runs mark. Misbah ul Haq also registered yet another half-century in this series at the same time. However, shortly after that, the stand was broken after James Anderson broke the stand with the wicket of Misbah.

Soon, the Pakistan innings folded up quickly. Sarfaraz Ahmed added few quick runs but eventually ran out of partners. The right-hander finished unbeaten at 46 as Woakes and Broad wiped off the tail-enders in short time.

The England opening pair of Cook and Hales came in to bat after the tea session and gave a solid start. The new ball pair of Mohammad Amir and Sohail Khan were neutered completely. Both scored at a brisk pace and kept the Pakistanis under pressure. The result of their open minded approach was that the pair took England to the 100 runs mark inside 29 overs.

Cook reached his just after the drinks off just 67 balls. Hales, who carries T20 reputation played it safe a prized his wicket reaching his half century in 116 balls. The end result of their wonderful opening stand was that the home side finished at a comfortable 120/0 at stumps.

Brief Scores:

1st innings

England: 297 all out (Ballance 70; Sohail 5/96)

Pakistan: 400 (Azhar Ali 139; Chris Woakes 3/19)

2nd Innings

England: 120/0 (Alastair Cook 64)

England lead by 17 runs with 10 wickets remaining