England v Pakistan, 2016

At Manchester, July 22-25. England won by 330 runs. England 4pts. Toss: England.
After the Lord's misadventure, the northern triumph. Old Trafford, plain but faithful old girl that she is, was the backdrop to a four-day England win that whipped the rug from under the Pakistanis. The match provided a cautionary tale: the exchange of fortunes between two sides and their talismanic princelings.

First, the seemingly unstoppable Yasir Shah proved mortal - returning clodden-shod match figures. Then there was Root, uncharacteristically careless the week before, classically magnificent here. He fashioned an innings of iron restraint, combined with a near-perfect touch, easing onwards and upwards to his highest score and beyond. So perfect was his batting, so timeless, that a mouthy Manchester crowd were turned tummyside up to purr at this batsman from over the Pennines. Cook provided the ballast, while Woakes - with seven wickets and a cameo 58 - hinted at a golden future.

The only PR hiccup for England came on the third afternoon, when Cook cautiously chose not to enforce the follow-on, with Pakistan 391 behind and suitably demoralised. A scathing editorial in the Pakistan daily Dawn thundered that this was "one of the most glaring incidences of cowardice in cricket history". Never before in a time-restricted Test had England led by so many without asking the opposition to bat again. Former captains, and sections of the crowd, were also bemused. No matter, for Cook had his reasons: rest for bowlers, the desire to bat in the best of the conditions, a chance to put more overs in the legs of the Pakistan bowlers. In any event, the threatened rain didn't stick around for long enough to make a difference.

It had been on a sunny Friday morning and a perfect-looking pitch that Misbah-ul-Haq finally lost a toss. Cook was tightening the last buckle on his pad as the coin hit the ground: of 38 previous Manchester Tests in which England had batted first, they had lost only three, most recently in 1989. Pakistan retained their team from Lord's, but England brought back Anderson (now officially fit) for Jake Ball, and Stokes for Steven Finn.

A throaty turnout of over 17,000 filled Old Trafford - a mix of football shirt and the occasional salwar kameez, with a side order of Mr Whippy - and it was difficult to know whether it was mean-spiritedness or ale or both which led a section of them to no-ball Mohammad Amir throughout his first over, and on his return for later spells. Not that it seemed to faze him: he buzzed with intent as spiky as his haircut, and in his first over drew Cook into an edge through a non-existent fourth slip. But it was Hales, back on trial once more despite a successful series against Sri Lanka, who went early. After being dropped at gully by Asad Shafiq off Amir in the seventh over, he lost his off stump to an Amir inswinger three balls later.

Just after midday, Yasir was on at the Statham End, but Cook and Root had done their homework. Gone were the cross-bat shots that had derailed England at Lord's, parked in batting purgatory next to wafting drives at the left-arm seamers. At lunch, they were 95 for one, and progress continued serenely in the afternoon, as both men reached centuries.

It was Cook's 29th in Tests (and first in 20 innings), leaving him level with Bradman and slightly abashed: "He did it in less than half the games I did." And it was Root's tenth, his first since being repositioned to No. 3. Cook fell on the stroke of tea, bowled for 105 by a skidder from Amir that exposed the middle order to their familiar struggles. Vince hit a handful of pretty fours, before driving at Rahat Ali, having been dropped on six by Younis Khan at second slip off Amir playing precisely the same stroke. Ballance also misjudged Rahat, dragging on a cut at a ball that was too close. But Root batted on, beautiful back-foot drive after beautiful back-foot drive.

He had 141 by the close, when he was applauded off by the crowd and the Pakistanis, who queued up to shake his hand. On the second morning, the outfield ran even more quickly, and Woakes (a nightwatchman in name only) reeled off a selection of deft drives before unleashing a sublime upper-cut for six - his first in Tests - off Amir, casually leaning back as if to knock an apple off a tree. Root was content to watch and admire as he eased past 150, only to be given a lifeline a few balls later when Younis put down a tough low chance at slip off Yasir.

And so it went on: Woakes and Stokes provided the big hitting, while Root inched to 197 with 17 successive singles, before moving past 200, and his highest Test score, with a reverse-sweep for four off Yasir. When Stokes fell, via DRS, for 34, Bairstow replaced him as England's attack dog, crashing a full toss from Yasir for four, before being dropped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed two balls later, on nine. Yasir, whose smiling countenance never slipped, merrily tugged at his thick white wristbands and the elastic of his stout-bottomed trousers, all the while totting up the most runs conceded by a Pakistani against England. He would finish with one for 213 in the innings (beating Fazal Mahmood's two for 192 at The Oval in 1962), and one for 266 in the match (beating Danish Kaneria's four for 237 at Leeds in 2006).

Finally, after ten hours and 14 minutes, 406 balls and 27 fours, Root - to his obvious frustration - misread Wahab Riaz's slower ball and was caught by Mohammad Hafeez for 254. It was the 15th-highest score in England's history, and the third-highest by an England No. 3, behind Wally Hammond (336 not out at Auckland in 1932-33) and Tom Graveney (258 against West Indies at Trent Bridge in 1957). Two overs later, when Bairstow was caught at long-off for a cracking fifty, England declared at 589 for eight. Pakistan trooped off, but the best of the conditions had gone. A wind had been whistled, the clouds were thickening and the beer snake in the party stand stretched from top to bottom. Underneath people staggered around with traffic cones on their heads trying to open the doors to the stinking Portaloos.

In less than two hours before the close, Pakistan were reduced to 57 for four, with Woakes, full of bounce and verve, picking up three. Hafeez was held by Root at second slip (his first of four catches in the innings), Azhar Ali caught and bowled, and nightwatchman Rahat snaffled at short leg. In between, a crabbed Younis, who had never looked at ease, was caught behind off Stokes. The tourists headed for the pavilion, 532 in arrears.

On the more prosaic third day, Pakistan lurched to lunch, either side of an hour's break for rain, on 119 for eight. Anderson got Shan Masood for the fifth consecutive innings, and only a ninth-wicket stand of 60 between Misbah and Wahab slowed England down. The sight of Hales, having ended the fun by catching Wahab at deep midwicket, immediately running for the dressing-room signalled Cook's decision to bat again. With the floodlights on, and rain in the air, it felt like a vote for methodical victory over ruthlessness.

England's reply was interrupted by spreadeagled groundsheets before tea, but they lost only Hales in 21 lively overs by stumps. On the fourth morning, Cook moved to his fastest half-century in Tests, from 55 balls, as he and Root rattled through a stand of 105 in 85 deliveries. By the time Cook declared for a second time, the pair had scored 506 of England's 733 runs off the bat. Pakistan needed to make 565 to win, or to survive 11 hours to draw. Both were fanciful. Anderson ensured a dismal start when he removed Masood again, for one. And, with the dismissal of Azhar, he overtook Glenn McGrath as the leading fast bowler in home Tests, with 290 wickets. Pakistan resisted in parts, but Woakes and Moeen Ali collected three apiece, and a series-levelling 330-run victory, England's first over Pakistan in eight Tests, left Cook delighted. Man of the Match Root pondered a little, and said: "I think I can get better."

The one shadow was an injury to Stokes, who had hobbled from the pitch two deliveries into his sixth over. Scans showed a torn muscle in his right calf, ruling him out of the rest of the series. For Pakistan, it was back to the drawing board.
Man of the Match: J. E. Root