3rd Test Day 5 PAK V ENG

Match report: Pakistan have beaten England by 127 runs in the third Test this morning, which has wrapped up a 2-0 series victory for the Asian nation. The tourists returned today with an overnight score of 46-2 and in need of 238 runs to draw the three-Test series. However, England's run chase never really gained any real momentum as wickets fell at regular intervals. It meant that when the two sides headed in for the lunch break, Alastair Cook's men were 120-7 with the captain alongside Stuart Broad at the crease. 

Broad was dismissed soon after the resumption for 20 when he played one sweep shot too many straight to Shoaib Malik at square leg and as a result, England were forced to turn to the injured Ben Stokes. Despite his shoulder complaint, the all-rounder provided some resistance to the Pakistan bowling attack, but any hopes that England could pull off a shock win were ended when skipper Cook was removed with 63 runs to his name. 

He moved down the pitch in a bid to meet Malik's delivery, only to be deceived by the spin, which left Sarfraz Ahmed with a routine stumping. Nevertheless, the 450 runs that Cook scored throughout the series is the most by an England batsman against Pakistan since David Gower in 1984. The final wicket fell moments later in a not too dissimilar fashion when Stokes (12) played and missed at Yasir Shah's spinning ball and once again Ahmed whipped off the bails. The result has moved Pakistan up to second in the ICC Test rankings, while England have dropped down to sixth position. 


Lunch report: England are likely to finish the series against Pakistan with a 2-0 defeat after they lost five wickets in the morning session on day four of the final Test in Sharjah. 

Trevor Bayliss's side began the day on 46-2 in their second innings, needing 238 runs to draw the series, but they suffered a hammer blow when Joe Root was taken out by lbw for just six runs. Yasir Shah celebrated the first wicket of the day, and Zulfiqar Babar joined in on the action nine runs later when James Taylor (2) was caught out by Younis Khan. Shah and Babar struck again as England lost Jonny Bairstow and Samit Patel for ducks, but Adil Rashid and opening batsman Alastair Cook managed to calm the onslaught. 

After a spell of resistance, England were pushed further on the backfoot when Rashid was bowled by Rahat Ali for 22, and the only positive taken from the morning session was Cook's half century. Cook (50 not out) and Stuart Broad (10 not out) will return to the crease for the afternoon session with England on 120-7. The team trail Pakistan by 164 runs with just three wickets remaining.