England captain Alastair Cook dished out a resolute century to lead his team’s remarkable fightback in the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
Cook knocked 168 not out for his 28th hundred — fifth against Pakistan — to anchor England to 290 for three at close on the third day.
Cook added an invaluable 116 for the first wicket with opener Moeen Ali (35) and another 165 for the second wicket Ian Bell (63).
England still trail Pakistan’s mammoth first innings total of 523 by 233 runs.
Pakistan were hoping their big total would put England under pressure but Cook, regarded a better batsman against spin than his other team-mates, took the fight to the Pakistani bowlers who managed just three wickets in the day.
It could have been only one wicket but paceman Wahab Riaz (2-79) dismissed Bell and nightwatchman Mark Wood (four) in successive overs for consolation wickets.
When on 93, Cook completed 1,000 runs in his 11th Test this year, only the second batsman to reach 1,000 runs in 2015 behind team-mate Root.
On 101, Cook survived a confident leg-before appeal as he missed a sweep off left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar with Pakistan unsuccessfully challenging Australian umpire Paul Reiffel’s decision.
Brief Scores: Pakistan: 523/8 lead England: 290/3 (Cook 168*, Bell 63) by 233 runs.