England lost Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott before lunch in pursuit of a demanding victory target of 324 that would prevent Pakistan taking a clean sweep of the series. Without Pakistan’s lapses in the field, it could have been worse.

Two chances went begging on the fourth morning. Adnan Akmal’s fumble behind the stumps to reprieve Strauss was not costly as the England captain was out in the next over without adding to his score but Umar Gul’s failure to catch Cook, on 28, at deep backward square, threatened to have greater ramifications.

Cook was unbeaten on 41 at lunch and during the morning became the second youngest person, at 27 years and 43 days, to reach 6,000 Test runs. Only Sachin Tendulkar has reached the landmark at a younger age. He lived on scraps, combating the turning ball with thoughtful defence and an occasional clip through square leg. His most attacking shot of the morning, a loft into the leg side against Rehman, caused the bowler to taunt him with applause, but he had given England some stability.