Cook hundred not enough to stop resurgent Pakistan taking control at Oval

England failed to capitalise on a redemptive hundred from Alastair Cook as Pakistan took six wickets for 27 in the evening session to take full control on day three of the third npower Test.

All eyes were on Cook at the start of the day and he responded eloquently to questions over his place in the side with a gutsy 110 at the Brit Insurance Oval.

But just as England began to entertain ideas of setting up a match-winning lead, Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal bowled a devastating spell to leave the hosts 221 for nine at the close. The pair ended with four wickets apiece as England limped to a lead of 146 before bad light intervened.

England's selectors and players have been unwavering in their support of Cook but there was a sense that he needed a big score to justify their continued faith. At six for one, still 69 runs behind, it was a tense starting point and, despite middling one to the midwicket boundary, the pressure soon mounted.

Nightwatchman James Anderson hit one crunching cover drive before Ajmal removed him with a loosener and Cook was fortunate when an edge off Wahab Riaz flew between slip and gully.

After that Cook began to settle and, with Jonathan Trott happy to surrender the strike, he moved through the forties with some sumptuous cover drives.

The scores were level by the time Cook reached 49, with a single taking England into the lead and earning the batsman a warm round of applause from a full house. He then hammered Riaz for four past backward point to bring up the 50 partnership.

The afternoon session began under murky skies but there was little movement in the air for Pakistan's bowlers. but Asif persevered and almost had Trott playing on with 21 to his name.

Cook was hitting his stride at the other end, cutting Ajmal for a pair of fours in the 42nd over. That brought him to 97 and all that was required to see him to a 13th Test century was a firm defensive prod to Asif, who obligingly hurled the ball high over Cook's head for four lamentable overthrows. When the end came it was a soft one, tickling a legside Riaz delivery to Kamran Akmal.

That brought Kevin Pietersen to join Trott - who had contributed only 25 to a 116-run stand with Cook. Pietersen briefly fired before tea but despite a smattering of boundaries his 23-run offering was unsatisfactory. Ajmal ended his stay with the sixth ball after the break, Pietersen lunging unsuccessfully at one that spun sharply to hit off stump.

Trott was next to go, slicing Aamer to gully for 36 after three-and-a-half hours. Now five down, England's 120-run lead suddenly looked worryingly flimsy.

Paul Collingwood lasted only ten balls before flashing at Aamer and feeding Kamran Akmal a third catch. Eoin Morgan was then bowled by Ajmal for five. Matt Prior added only five more runs to the total and one more wicket to the rampant Aamer's tally. Graeme Swann was then bowled by his fellow spinner Ajmal, who picked up a fourth wicket.

The umpires withdrew the players as the light faded, to inevitable boos, with Pakistan firmly in the ascendancy going into day four.