Alastair Cook scored his third double century and in the process played the longest innings by an Englishman to help England post lead over Pakistan at stumps in the fourth day of the opening Test in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
The England skipper was relentless in his 263-run knock and held on to the crease for gruelling 836 minutes in sweltering conditions at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
England overcame a monumental task of crossing 523-8 declared by Pakistan and accumulated 569-8 at stumps while holding a 46-run lead over the hosts.
Cook struck a 141-run partnership with Joe Root (85) for the fourth wicket and then added another 91 for the sixth with Ben Stokes (57) after England resumed at 290-3.
Adil Rashid (six) and Stuart Broad (0) will resume the first innings, with the first of the three-match series heading towards an inevitable draw.\
Pace spearhead Wahab Riaz was the pick of bowlers for hosts with 3-116, while spinner Shoaib Malik returned figures of 2-97.