Manchester Test: Rain forces early tea as England on course for win

Alastair Cook caused a stir with his surprise decision to spare Pakistan the follow-on as England nonetheless stayed on course for a wide-margin series-levelling victory at Old Trafford yesterday

Manchester: Alastair Cook caused a stir with his surprise decision to spare Pakistan the follow-on as England nonetheless stayed on course for a wide-margin series-levelling victory at Old Trafford yesterday.

Pakistan's captain Misbah-ul-Haq (R) watches England's captain Alastair Cook (L) leave the pitch at the end of play on the third day of the second Test cricket match between England and Pakistan at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester. Pic/ AFP

Surprise decision
England needed less than 40 overs on Day Three of the second Test to dismantle the remainder of Pakistan's first innings, from 57 for four to 198 all out. Cook then spurned the fast-track to a likely innings win, with a mammoth lead of 391 in the bag. Bad weather took out 27 of the scheduled 90 overs, but Cook still had time to consolidate the domination in a stumps total of 98 for one. Consternation is hardly yet rife that the hosts might have shot themselves in the foot by going into bat again, but hindsight will doubtless be damning if they are somehow not able to convert overwhelming mid-match superiority into a 1-1 scoreline before Tuesday.

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