Pakistan nose ahead after Ballance, Moeen wickets

England had two options to choose from on the fourth day of the final Test at The Oval after losing their top order wickets by stumps on the third day. One was to go into a shell and block their way to a draw which looked like a tall order considering they didn't have the right men out in the middle for that sort of a task. The second one was to be positive and look for runs in order to erase the deficit and give their bowlers something to defend.

The hosts wisely chose the second option and ended up scoring 106 runs at a run rate of almost 4 in the first session on Sunday (August 14) but ended up losing two key wickets in the process. Trailing by 20 runs, their hopes are firmly pinned on Jonny Bairstow who made full use of his recent form to register another half-century and remain unbeaten on 70 at the break and help his team post 194 for 6 at Lunch.

England's intent was clearly evident in the very first over of the day with Gary Ballance creaming Yasir Shah through the covers for a boundary. The duo didn't waste any opportunity to add to the score as the quick singles and twos kept coming. Bairstow scored his first boundary off the day when he smashed Wahab Riaz through the covers and then two balls later, he hit Mohammad Amir through the same region to bring the deficit down to two figures.

Pakistan then received a minor blow when Wahab was given a second warning by the umpires for stepping into the danger zone. His Test series with the ball will be over the moment he receives one more warning.

With both batsmen looking fairly comfortable out in the middle, the English crowd had also found their voice before Ballance poked at a delivery that was bowled at off and left him a touch at a good height. The 26-year-old could have easily left the delivery but instead perished after edging it to the wicketkeeper. England were still trailing by 86 at that time as Moeen Ali joined Bairstow out in the middle. The fact that he has been in superb form with the bat was highlighted in the very first delivery that he faced. He clipped the ball on the leg side for a boundary to get off the mark in some style.

Even though the boundaries had dried up for a while, the duo kept the scoreboard ticking as Bairstow reached his half-century off 72 deliveries. A reverse sweep boundary off Yasir followed by a misfield that fetched six runs in the next over brought the deficit down to 45. England clearly had momentum on their side at that point in time as Moeen continued to play with a hint of panache and clobbered Yasir for a huge six over long on.

To make matters worse for Pakistan, Sohail Khan had left the field minutes before the interval. In the previous Test at Edgbaston, the pacer had bowled only eight overs in the second innings after picking up a five-wicket haul in the first which probably hints at some fitness concerns. The visitors then bagged the big fish in the penultimate over before the break as Yasir came back to get rid of Moeen Ali for 32.

Moeen edged the quicker delivery from the legpsinner to the keeper and immediately started walking without waiting for the umpire's signal. The wicket silenced the home crowd as the small section of Pakistan fans started cheering sensing the win that looks be in their reach now unless Bairstow and Chris Woakes pull out something extraordinary out of the box.

Brief scores: England 328 & 194/6 (Jonny Bairstow 70*, Joe Root 39; Yasir Shah 4-49) trail Pakistan 542 (Younis Khan 218, Asad Shafiq 109; Chris Woakes 3-82) by 20 runs.