England take command on rain-affected day at Edgbaston
Pakistan face a tough task as they trail by 268 runs with eight wickets in hand in the third Test against England.
England strengthened their position in the Edgbaston Test with a confident batting performance, followed by two early wickets before rain ensured that the second day of the Edgbaston Test was cut short.
Sitting at the sixth place in the ICC World Test Championship standings, England will look to improve their point percentage with a win, even as Pakistan look to rebuild themselves after having lost their previous two Tests on the tour.
At the start of Day 2, England continued at their first innings total of 156/4 eventually finishing off at 453, with quality efforts from the late order helping them towards a comprehensive 320-run lead.
Harry Brook entered the second day with a half-century (52) already secured and finished at 75 (97) before being run out to a good fielding effort from Shan Masood and Saim Ayub.
Dan Lawrence and Jaime Smith led England's batting effort on the day, with Lawrence scoring 65, while Jamie added a brisk 69, helping further England's advantage. A fifty from Ollie Robinson and Jofra Archer's enterprising cameo of 32, helping England's lead past 300.
Razaullah (4/148), Mohammad Imran (2/47) and Mohammad Ali (2/92) led the Pakistan bowling effort.
Jamie Smith during his knock of 69 against Pakistan on second day in Edgbaston // Getty Images //
Pakistan's poor run with the willow continued in the second innings, with Saim Ayub falling to Ollie Robinson off the very first ball. One became two in no time, as Abdullah Shafique also fell to Ollie Robinson.
Azan Awais and Shan Masood adopted contrasting approaches to handle the English bowling attack, with the former relying on his strokeplay while the latter tried to anchor the innings.
Pakistan were 52/2 and trailing by 268 runs when continous rain ensured that play for the remainder of the day was called off.
Action resumes in the third Test tomorrow on 11 September.