England produced a fine bowling performance to bowl Pakistan out for 201 and seal a 141-run win in the third Test at Edgbaston.
Five bowlers claimed two wickets apiece as England wrapped up victory with 13.1 overs remaining to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.
Pakistan, set 343 to win after England declared on 445-6, were undermined by a collapse of four wickets for one run.
Although opener Sami Aslam hit 70, five players failed to reach double figures.
The final Test at The Oval starts on 11 August.
The scale of England’s victory was all the more impressive given they conceded a first-innings deficit of 103, only the sixth time in history they have won a Test after trailing by 100 or more.
Indeed, it is a measure of their powers of recovery that, having lost the first Test inside four days, they head to The Oval knowing they can go top of the Test rankings if they win 3-1 and results in the Sri Lanka-Australia and West Indies-India series go their way.
The collapse that cost Pakistan
Pakistan’s defeat, which ended their hopes of becoming the number one side in the world this summer, stemmed from a stunning afternoon collapse on a surface that remained reliable deep into the fifth day.
Roared on by a raucous crowd in excess of 10,000 on a gloriously sunny day, England effectively settled the contest by reducing the tourists from 124-3 to 125-7 in the space of 23 balls:
- 124-4: Misbah ct Bairstow b Finn 10 – regulation catch behind as Finn finds movement away off a good length to find the outside edge.
- 125-5: Shafiq lbw Woakes 0 – Shafiq, playing around a straight one, fails to overturn an lbw verdict on review.
- 125-6: Sarfraz ct Root b Woakes 0 – a flat-footed Sarfraz edges low to second slip, where Joe Root takes a smart catch.
- 125-7: Aslam b Finn 70 – a rare error from the left-hander, who shoulders arms to have his off stump pegged by a jubilant Finn.
James Anderson returned after tea to have Yasir Shah taken at fourth slip and Mohammad Amir drove Stuart Broad low to point.
The damage that England had inflicted before tea was such that a last-wicket stand of 50 between Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali was no more than an inconvenience.
Sohail drilled a return catch to Moeen to fall for 36 off 37 balls and spark joyous scenes among the England players.
Third Test, Edgbaston, day five
England 297 & 445-6 dec: Moeen 86*, Bairstow 83, Cook 66, Root 62
Pakistan 400 & 201: Aslam 70; Broad 2-24, Anderson 2-31
England won by 141 runs
