ENGLAND secured a 2-0 lead in the four-match series after a nine-wicket win in the second Test yesterday at Edgbaston.
Pakistan resumed with a lead of 112 at 291-9, but lost their final wicket in the second over having added only five when Mohammad Asif edged to gully. Chasing 118, England lost Alastair Cook in the third over when Mohammad Amir ripped out the middle stump.
Skipper Andrew Strauss (53) was dropped twice but shared an unbroken 111 with Jonathan Trott (53) to seal victory.
The much-maligned tourists, already bowled out for under 100 twice in the series, restored some pride on Sunday when it had seemed as though they would lose by an innings.
Having built a lead in excess of three figures it was felt that with the addition of 30 or so runs, given the history of anxiety in Test cricket when chasing low totals, they had a genuine chance of levelling the series, with the spin of Saeed Ajmal expected to pose problems for the batsmen.
But in the end their resistance on the penultimate morning of the match lasted only 11 balls and they are still to reach 300 in eight Test innings in England this year.
Strauss was first reprieved on 10 when a thick edge from a back-foot forcing shot went in and out of Haider’s gloves.
Despite the occasional scare through variable bounce the England batsmen played in calm fashion and Strauss recorded his team’s 50 in the 18th over with a well executed sweep to the fine-leg fence off Ajmal.

Trott was not quite as assured as his captain early in his innings but clipped a delightful boundary off his pads as the requirement was reduced to just 47 with nine wickets still intact at the lunch interval.
The placid wicket offered little encouragement to Ajmal but he should have dismissed Strauss again on 38 when the ball turned away from the left-hander, but the edge merely flicked off Haider’s left gauntlet.
Strauss twice lofted shots into the off side that Asif ran around rather than towards, rather encapsulating Pakistan’s performance in the field throughout the series thus far.
Another misfield allowed the skipper to complete his 21st Test fifty and Trott struck a delightful cover drive for four to record his second half century.
With drops of rain falling, England reached their target midway the afternoon session and they go to The Oval on August 18 with a maiden Test series whitewash against Pakistan still possible. (BBC Sport)
PAKISTAN first innings 72 (J.Anderson 4-20; S. Broad 4-38).
England first innings 251 all out (K. Pietersen 80; Saeed  Ajmal 5-82)
Pakistan second innings o/n 291 for 9 (Z. Haider 88, S. Ajmal 50, G. Swann 6-60).
I. Farhat   b Swann    29
S. Butt c Strauss b Anderson    0
A. Ali  b Swann    19
S. Malik c (wkp.) Prior b Finn    3
U. Akmal lbw b Swann    20
U. Amin  stp Prior b Swann    14
Z. Haider c Swann b Strauss    88
M. Amir c Strauss b Broad    16
S. Ajmal c Collingwood b Swann    50
U. Gul  not out    13
M. Asif c Pietersenb Broad    14
Extras: (b-16, lb-14)    30
Total: (all out, 117.5 overs)    296
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-53, 3-54, 4-76, 5-82, 6-101, 7-153, 8-268, 9-269.
Bowling: J. Anderson 28-13-62-1, S. Broad 28.5-8-66-2, S. Finn 16-5-57-1, G. Swann 37-20-65-6, P. Collingwood 7-2-14-0, K. Pieteren 1-0-2-0..
ENGLAND second innings
A. Strauss not out    53
A. Cook b Amir    4
J. Trott not out    53
Extras: (b-5, nb-3)    8
Total: (one wicket , 36.3 overs)    118
Fall of wickets: 1-7.
Bowling: Mohammad Amir 11-1-31-1 (nb-2), Mohammad Asif 6-0-20-0, Saeed Ajmal 14.3-1-42-0, Shoaib Malik 5-0-20-0 (nb-1).