Pakistan vs England 1st Test Day 3: Cook guides England to 290-3, trail by 233
Alastair Cook remained unbeaten on 168 as England scored 290 for three in the first innings, still trailing by 233 runs on day three.
Cook and Ian Bell (63) held the innings together for most of the day sharing a 165-run partnership for the second wicket.
Wahab Riaz gave Pakistan something to cheer at the end of the day picking up two quick wickets.
EVENING INNINGS
Riaz on fire at the end of the third day. He removes Wood who played on a rising delivery on to his stumps. Eng 285-3 in 107.4 overs.
Mark Wood b Wahab Riaz 4 (7b 1x4 0x6)
Pakistan finally manage to break the partnership as Bell is out. England are in a fine position trailing by 242 runs. Pak 281-2 in 105.3 overs.
Ian Bell c Mohammad Hafeez b Wahab Riaz 63 (199b 5x4 0x6)
Current partnership reaches 155 as England reach 271 for one in 100 overs.
Cook earns a reprieve as Fawad Alam drops a top edge. He reaches 150 as England 258-1 in 94 overs.
Bell gets to his half century with a fine boundary off Rahat. He faced 144 balls including four boundaries. Eng 234-1 in 87 overs.
Alastair Cook reached his century as England score 197 for one in 75 overs at tea. Bell is batting on 31.
AFTERNOON SESSION
England captain Alastair Cook slugged his record-extending 28th test century as the tourists reached 197 for one against Pakistan at tea on the third day of the first test on Thursday.
Resuming after lunch on 122-1, Cook (116) and Ian Bell (31) obdurately reduced Pakistan's lead as Abu Dhabi's flat pitch provided bowlers with another day of toil. Pakistan had declared on 523-8 the previous afternoon.
Cook was the dominant batsman, with a drive through extra cover for four bringing up his ton off 180 balls to take the 30-year-old five clear of Kevin Pieterson at the top of the list of England test centurions.
He had a narrow escape shortly after. Trying to sweep, the England skipper only found air as he lunged forward and Zulfiqar Babar's ball struck his pad low.
Pakistan called for a review but Hawk-Eye indicated the ball would have missed leg-stump and England, instead, collected three byes.
The sweltering heat spurred Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq to rotate his attack. He used six bowlers, although the 36-year-old Zulfiqar carried the main burden as sole frontline spinner following Yasir Shah's late withdrawal through injury.
Zulfiqar's figures were 0-54 as he bowled 27 of Pakistan's 75 overs, Misbah seemingly content to just abate England's scoring rate.
England had started the day on 56-0, with Cook and new partner Moeen Ali -- England's seventh opening pair since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012 -- at the crease.
A maiden first over was followed by 26 runs in the following six as Pakistan's twin attack of Zulfiqar and paceman Wahab Riaz found little joy.
Pakistan made a strong appeal for lbw against Cook from a wicked delivery by Zulfiqar, but the ball struck the pad outside off stump as England reached 100 without loss with a clipped single to point from their captain.
Paceman Imran Khan then made Pakistan's breakthrough, dismissing Moeen for 35 as an outside edge carried to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed to reduce England to 116-1.
The tourists, now on the defensive, saw their scoring slow to a crawl and registered just 17 runs in the final 14 overs before lunch.
Perhaps energised by the break, Cook and Bell attacked in spells to drag England to within 126 runs of avoiding the follow-on.
The three-match series heads to Dubai next for the second test from Oct. 22 with Sharjah hosting the third contest from Nov. 1.
A fine drive through the cover and Cook reaches a well deserved century. Eng 164-1 in 61 overs. He faced 180 deliveries and found the fence on 10 occasions.
England were 122 for one in 49 overs at lunch on day three of the first Test in Abu Dhabi.
Alastair Cook was batting on 78 while Bell had just made one from the 27 balls he faced.
The only wicket to fall of the visitors was Moeen Ali who managed 35.
MORNING SESSION
Pakistan finally earn their first breakthrough as Imran Khan gets the edge of Moeen Ali. Eng 116-1 in 40.2 overs.
Moeen Ali c Sarfraz Ahmed b Imran Khan 35 (131b 2x4 0x6)
England reach 100 in the 35th over. Cook going strong on 66 while Moeen Ali batting on 27.
Moeen Ali hits his first boundary after facing 87 balls by punching Rahat through midwicket. Eng 86-0.
Cook rocks back and cuts Babar for the second boundary of the morning. Eng 82-0.
Cook steers Riaz to third man for the fiirst boundary of the day to complete his 45th Test fifty off 75 balls. Eng 70-0.
Pakistan open day three with left arm spinner Babar who bowls a maiden to Ali while Riaz starts from the other end.
Day Two
Openers Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali batted solidly to take England to 56-0 after Shoaib Malik's double century lifted Pakistan to a mammoth total in the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Wedensday.
Cook was unbeaten on 39 and with him Ali 15 not out as England trail by 467 runs in reply to Pakistan's first innings of 523-8 declared after day two at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
England batsmen will have to bat out of their skins to thwart Pakistan's pace-cum-spin attack on a pitch which did not help the bowlers on the first two days but can change its nature as the game progresses.
Ali survived a confident leg-before appeal and the subsequent review when left-arm paceman Rahat Ali brought one in sharply to hit the pads but Australian umpire Paul Reiffel gave the batsman not out.
It was a day to remember for Malik as he capped his return to the Test side after a gap of five years with an epic knock of 245, his best score in Test cricket, after coming in to bat in the third over of the match on Tuesday.
Asad Shafiq, who scored 107 for his ninth hundred, added 248 runs with Malik -- a new record in Pakistan-England Tests -- as Pakistan added 213 runs in the two sessions after resuming the day at 286-4.
Pakistan declared soon after tea, leaving England to bat the remaining 23 overs.
Dubai will host the second Test (October 22-26) while the third will be played in Sharjah (November 1-5).