Taylor leads England towards high ground

As the third Test hardened into a battle of wills and wiles, England were hauled into a position of relative strength by a maiden Test half-century from James Taylor. His unbeaten 74 helped take England to within touching distance of Pakistan's first-innings 234 at the close and bound together a hitherto porous middle order on a pitch that yielded every run grudgingly.

It was hard going but England were determined not to squander the gains achieved by their bowlers on Sunday. A surface that had threatened mayhem - as least by recent UAE standards - on the first day was increasingly cowed, a slow outfield providing a further obstruction to scoring. This England team may not appear adept at grafting but they dutifully buckled down to add 218 runs from the allocated 90 overs.

It was an innings shaped in the image of their captain, Alastair Cook, who plotted England's initial course in pursuit of a series-levelling victory. His 49 from 119 balls was a rate of scoring that came naturally but Ian Bell, his senior partner in the top order, was even more abstemious, curbing his natural instincts to make 40 off 159, a rate of 25.31. He had actually struck his seventh ball for six, in an attempt to push back the field, and was eventually lured out by Yasir Shah to be stumped after two sessions of hard labour.

England had turned to Taylor in a bid to add some fibre lower down and he duly repaid the faith. Playing his first Test innings since two brief appearances against South Africa in 2012, he was quickly attuned to the conditions, ensuring that his movements back and forward were decisive, particularly against the spinners - all six of his fours were struck off Yasir and Zulfiqar Babar.

At times Taylor went down on one knee and turned his back on the ball as it bounced through to the keeper, as if preparing to guard his wicket bodily. His only moments of alarm came against the pace of Rahat Ali, with Pakistan venturing an optimistic review against him on 11, hoping in vain for either an edge to the keeper or an lbw. When he had made 52, a defensive jab towards his toes left him facing his wicket, wondering where the ball had gone as it rolled past his stumps.

His partnership with Jonny Bairstow, who also showed commendable resolve as Pakistan sought a chink in his technique, helped lift England from 139 for 4 and the possibility of trouble. Pakistan made early breakthroughs in each of the three sessions but, even though the run rate was occasionally allowed to stall, England blotted out the memory of their collapse in Dubai and redoubled their efforts in pursuit of a match-defining lead.

Cook had relied on his usual formula of judicious defence and deliberate accumulation but a couple of nervy inside-edges against Yasir proved a harbinger of what was to come. He had 48 at lunch but only added a single to his score thereafter before a faint deflection on to his pads was claimed by short leg; Cook looked suspicious of Chris Gaffaney's decision to give it out but sensibly chose not to review.

It was Cook's third dismissal out of three to Yasir - a detail the great impresario of legspin, Shane Warne, would be sure to make his opponent aware of - and prevented him from ploughing his productive furrow in the UAE landscape. Barren for so many on England's previous tour, this time around it has provided fertile soil for the captain and when he pulled Yasir for four to move on to 45 he surpassed what was previously his most prolific calendar year, 1287 in 2010.

Root is the only man close to Cook as the leading run-scorer in 2015 but he could only take his tally on by 4, to 1282, before falling to what is becoming a familiar left-arm suckerpunch, Rahat Ali finding the edge of a loose drive and Sarfraz Ahmed taking a fine low catch in his right hand.

Bell was becalmed but seemed more comfortable than he had all series and was happy to let his partners dictate the tempo, scoring just 40 out of 120 while in the middle. Boundaries were in short supply but Taylor showed nimble feet and fast hands in swatting Yasir away whenever he dropped a fraction short, his diminutive stature an advantage in such conditions. He and Bairstow put further pressure on Pakistan by stealing singles wherever possible.

The early loss of Moeen Ali was the only damage Pakistan managed to inflict in the first session. After the success of James Anderson and Stuart Broad on the first day, Misbah-ul-Haq opened with his two seamers, Wahab Riaz and Rahat. It was not long before he turned to spin, however, and that looked the likeliest source of a breakthrough, despite the turn being less pronounced.

Bell has been a jittery starter against Pakistan's spinners and, after hitting Babar over long-off, the bowler responded by spinning a delivery past his outside edge later in the over. Bell was also fortunate to survive an lbw appeal off Babar on 7 when he was hit on the body trying to sweep; Pakistan elected not to review, with Hawk-Eye suggesting the impact was umpire's call.

Misbah held Yasir back until almost the midpoint of the session, and he was initially unable to locate a probing line. He switched ends after three overs, from where he probed at Cook's pads, an area of strength that Pakistan have looked to make a weakness. Twice the bowler appealed for a repeat of his first dismissal of Cook in Dubai, as the ball diverted to leg slip. Both times there was only pad involved but Yasir was getting closer and, with Cook on 45, he twice found inside-edges that evaded the grasp of leg slip. After lunch, it was third time lucky.

Cook's association with Moeen at the top of the order also looked to be running out of time after their stand contributed just 19. A confident player of spin, Moeen has rarely faced Pakistan's slow bowlers in the series, his energy and focus concentrated on seeing off the new ball. However, it was the slog-sweep, a shot he normally plays well, which brought about his downfall, Shoaib Malik's offspin precipitating a top edge that looped tamely to slip. Moeen began his forlorn walk off even as Younis Khan steadied himself to hold the catch.