Pakistan continue win push

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England closed on 78 for one at stumps on day three of the final npower Test after Pakistan piled up 504 and the home side will be looking to bat for a further two days to save the match.

Returning fast bowler Mohammad Asif prised out Marcus Trescothick as the left-hander was forced to play at a delivery from Asif which resulted in a fine diving catch by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal as England batted for a second time.

But fellow southpaws Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook steadied things with an unbeaten stand of 70 before bad light brought a premature close shortly after 7pm.

Although England bowled considerably better than they had on the first couple of days - Steve Harmison claimed four wickets - they went into bat for a second time 331 runs in arrears.

It was a fresh start for Harmison and the 27-year-old and fellow paceman Matthew Hoggard removed the Pakistani big two as the tourists were finally dismissed one hour into an extended final session.

Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and centurion Mohammad Yousuf were prised out in consecutive overs after the players returned from a one-hour stoppage for rain after lunch.
Inzamam fended at a brute of a delivery from Harmison to provide opposite number Andrew Strauss with a comfortable catch at second slip.

Then swing bowler Hoggard finally accounted for Yousuf - dropped twice off his bowling on the first evening - with a delivery which shaped away to take the outside edge.

But Yousuf capitalised on those misses, before he had scored a dozen runs, by hitting 128.

It was his fourth hundred in five Tests against England and put his team in a good position to secure a first win of a series lost at Headingley earlier this month.

Their progress was checked on the third day of a rain-effected contest, however, with 25 overs lost due to the influence of the elements.

When England returned to the field at 2.45pm, Harmison and Hoggard sent down their most testing spells of the Test to date with the former ending a barren spell of 46.2 overs without a wicket against the Pakistanis.

Pakistan added just 33 runs in 11.5 overs in the morning session due to the interruptions for wet weather.

But Faisal Iqbal injected further impetus into the innings with a maiden half-century in the npower campaign while the tail also chipped in.

Harmison, who continued Kamran Akmal’s poor trot by having a thick edge well held low at third slip, finished things off when his ability to gain extra bounce accounted for Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Asif.