Joe Root and England face tough task to avoid second Test defeat as Pakistan secure huge lead

England retain the smallest of chances to avoid a comprehensive defeat in their second Test against Pakistan as they closed day four in Dubai trailing by 360 runs. Although a world-record chase is surely now totally out of the question, Alastair Cook's side can still claim a second successive draw providing they are able to bat throughout the final three sessions.

Having taken their opponents' last seven wickets for just 36 runs on a hugely profitable Saturday (24 October) and reached stumps at 211-3 thanks to the efforts of Younus Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, the hosts added 13 more in the morning session before the captain diverted a delivery from Jimmy Anderson to Cook stationed at mid-off. While he did not reach another century, however, Khan, who surpassed 9,000 Test runs yesterday, made 118 before being caught well by Moeen Ali off the bowling of Adil Rashid.

With the lead building considerably, Pakistan lost one more wicket before finally declaring at 354-6 as Asad Shafiq was trapped lbw by Ali. In response, England did not manage to reach double figures before the same man was caught by Younus at second slip and their hopes of snatching an unlikely draw appeared all but over shortly afterwards when Cook attempted a sweep off Yasir Shah but was taken by Wahab Riaz.

Joe Root led something of a revival as he reached 59 not out, with Jonny Bairstow chipping in with six to leave the tourists at 130-3 after Ian Bell fell four runs short of his half-century when he gloved a spinning ball from Zulfiqar Babar behind to Younus. The umpires were unmoved at the time, but a subsequent review saw the decision reversed.