Bairstow and Moeen build 311-run lead

England 297 and 414 for 5 (Bairstow 82*, Moeen 60*) lead Pakistan 400 by 311 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details

For two sessions this was a day of twists and turns, not the thrilling variety of batting collapses or exhilarating innings, but steady shifting of the sands, before England surged into a dominant position through a stand of 132 in 27 overs between Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali. It left them well-placed to push for a final-day victory at Edgbaston, with a lead of 311, because while the pitch remains true they will know there is a vulnerability to the Pakistan batting order.

In each session there was a time where Pakistan had an advantage, and were one quick wicket away from sending jitters through the England line-up. They removed Alastair Cook and Alex Hales within the first five overs of the day, shifted Joe Root and James Vince before tea and when Gary Ballance fell to Yasir Shah for the third time in the series the lead was still an uncertain 179.

But over the course of the remainder of the last session, Bairstow took control with a perfectly paced counterattacking innings, the most fluent batting of the day, as he and Moeen flayed a tiring attack. Having initially bided his time, he moved from 15 off 52 balls to a half-century from 83 deliveries, in the process becoming England’s highest-scoring wicketkeeper in a calendar year. His speed between the wickets took advantage of some heavy legs among the Pakistan side.

Some of the finest shots, though, came from Moeen as he dominated Yasir: a dance down the pitch and a whip wide of mid-on were the best of the lot, but his controlled off-side drive was worthy of note given his much-criticised dismissal at Lord’s. His second half-century of the match came from 64 balls

Misbah-ul-Haq was content not to over-attack even after the early breakthroughs and opted to bowl at England’s ego for much of the day – namely, …

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