England vs Pakistan: England lose Joe Root, lead by 159 runs

Pakistan dismissed dangerman Joe Root as England extended their lead to 159 at tea on the fourth day of the third Test on Saturday.

Root, dropped on 25, went on to score 62 at Edgbaston and shared a 95-run partnership for the third wicket with James Vince (42). Pakistan removed both batsmen after lunch as England reached 262/4. Root top-edged leg-spinner Yasir Shah to short fine leg and Vince edged Mohammad Amir immediately after Pakistan took the second new ball. Gary Ballance was unbeaten on 21 and Jonny Bairstow not out on 2 at tea.

Earlier, Sohail Khan and Amir claimed Alastair Cook (66) and Alex Hales (54) in successive overs after England resumed at 120/0.

Cook’s loose drive was smartly snapped by Shah diving at point with England on 126 and, at the same total, Younis Khan plucked a two-handed low catch at second slip to dismiss Hales.

On Friday, captain Alastair Cook and Alex Hales led a strong England comeback as the opening pair wiped out Pakistan’s 103-run lead in the third Test on Friday.

England finished the third day on 120/0 in their second innings — a lead of 17 runs — with Cook unbeaten on a meticulous 64 and Hales (50) getting his first half-century of the series off the last ball of the day.

Pakistan lost their last five first-innings wickets for 42 runs, and were dismissed for 400 at the stroke of tea after resuming on 257/3 and chasing England's first innings of 297.

Misbah-ul-Haq hit 56 and Sarfraz Ahmed an unbeaten 46 to push Pakistan's lead.

James Anderson (2/54) triggered Pakistan's collapse by bowling Misbah before he was ordered out of the attack for the rest of the innings after running into the danger area for the third time when Pakistan led by 71 runs.

Chris Woakes (3/79) stretched his tally of wickets in the series to 21 while Broad claimed 3/83.

England seamers took two early wickets in the morning before Pakistan had matched England’s first-innings score, but Misbah was defiant and added 62 runs with Ahmed for the sixth wicket.

Woakes had Younis Khan (31) caught behind and Asad Shafiq couldn't score off 18 deliveries before being clean bowled by Broad with Pakistan adding 79 runs in the first session.

Scoreboard (At tea) England (1st Innings): 297 Pakistan (1st Innings): 400 England (2nd Innings o/n 120/0): A. Cook c Yasir Shah b Sohail Khan 66, A. Hales c Younis Khan b Mohammad Amir 54, J. Root c Mohammad Hafeez b Yasir Shah 62, J. Vince c Younis Khan b Mohammad Amir 42, G. Ballance (batting) 21, J. Bairstow (batting) 2. Extras: (b 3, lb 5, w 1, nb 6) 15. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 89 overs) 262. FoW: 1-126, 2-126, 3-221, 4-257. Bowling: Amir 24-7-48-2, Sohail 21-2-80-1, Rahat 17-8-40-0, Yasir 27-3-86-1.