Sunday 24 July 2016 22:41, UK
Alastair Cook chose not to enforce the follow-on despite a first-innings lead of 391 as England pressed for a series-levelling win over Pakistan on day three of the second Test, at Old Trafford.
Cook (49no off 53 balls) instead led the way as the home side improved their lead to 489 by reaching 98-1 on a rain-interrupted day in Manchester after Pakistan folded to 198 all out on a true surface.
Only skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (52) passed fifty, his ninth-wicket stand of 60 with Wahab Riaz (39) the sole partnership of substance as Chris Woakes finished with 4-67 and Joe Root bagged four catches.
Pakistan, 1-0 up in the series, already need to make history to win the Test - the highest successful run-chase remaining West Indies' 418-7 against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
A draw appears the best the tourists can hope for and it remains to be seen whether England, now in the record books with the fifth biggest first-innings lead for not enforcing the follow-on, will rue the decision.
Woakes (4-67) waited his turn in the morning session as James Anderson (1-27) and Stuart Broad (1-20) got first crack at Pakistan, who resumed on 57-4 in reply to England's immense 589-8 declared.
The tourists were quickly in deeper trouble as Anderson ended Shan Masood's dogged, 84-ball innings of 39 by finding the opener's edge - Root gobbling the chance at second slip - and after a half-hour rain delay Broad's cutter deceived Asad Shafiq, who picked out Hales at point.
Sarfraz Ahmed upped the tempo with a typically brisk 26, which included five fours, but could not match the resilience of his captain, who hit his first boundary off his 47th ball faced.
Sarfraz's dash ended when he snicked Ben Stokes (2-39) to Root, who held another chance with one ball to go to lunch as Yasir Shah fended outside off.
That made Root only the third man in Test history to score 200 or more and take four catches in an innings after Australian Bobby Simpson, in 1965 against West Indies and Jacques Kallis against Sri Lanka, in 2012.
Misbah, who had his grill rattled by Woakes on 21, finally found a solid ally in the unlikely form of Wahab Riaz - the pair sharing a stand of 60, the highest partnership of the innings.
The skipper reached his 33rd fifty in 63 Tests by sweeping his 108th ball for one, Wahab celebrating by slog-sweeping the very next delivery from Moeen Ali for six to go to 28 and eclipse his previous personal best score of 27 in the process.
When Misbah fell, caught top-edging Moeen around the corner, Wahab opened up - smashing the spinner down the ground and reverse sweeping for back-to-back boundaries before holing out to hand Woakes his fourth wicket.
England's second dig was shower-hit from the start - rain forcing an early tea at 11-0 and allowing only two more balls to be bowled when the players returned after a delay of just under an hour.
The innings resumed 41 minutes later, England leading by 402 at that point, with England showing a greater sense of urgency - Hales (24) hammering Yasir's first ball down the park for four and Cook driving Mohammad Amir through the covers in imperious fashion.
The skipper picked up where he left off after a further rain break, sweeping Yasir's first delivery after the resumption for four only to see Hales fall to Amir for the second time in the match, this time inside-edging behind.
Root (23no off 19 balls) was off the mark first ball with a boundary - opening the face to run Amir down to the third man fence and used the slog-sweep to good effect to further enhance England's dominant position.
Watch highlights of day three of the second Test between England and Pakistan at 10pm on Sky Sports 2, then stay tuned for the Verdict at 11pm.
