Pak beat Eng by 178 runs

The victory was important for Pakistan after they narrowly escaped defeat in the first Test in Abu Dhabi when bad light helped them draw the match in final minutes.

The visitors came close to snatching a draw – losing their final wicket for 312 with 6.3 overs remaining on the final day of play.

The team are now over-reliant on skipper Cook and Joe Root, whose scores of 88 and 71 in Dubai saw him move back to the top of the worldwide Cricket Council’s Test batting rankings ahead of Australia’s Steve Smith and South Africa’s AB De Villiers.

Rashid shared superb late-order partnerships with Stuart Broad (30) and Mark Wood (29) before he was last man out for a defiant 61.

Cook was left to regret another batting collapse then, and to confess England are still prone to them.

“It was a bit frustrating yesterday”, said the 30-year-old, who has featured in England’s last 119 Tests. “It happens too often. Full credit to Riaz, he bowled really well, 90mph, reverse swinging, from different angles, with a few short stuff thrown in”.

“Those two or three hours put us right on the back foot”, Cook said. But it’s a realisation that it’s a tough moment. “Maybe it is recognising when the tough moments come and you have to suck it up and get through it”.

Pakistan batsman Younus Khan, captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq have also reaped the rewards of good performances in the Dubai Test. You never mean to get out or mess up, but he’d love to have that shot back, especially considering how well he played those other 170-odd balls.

“They were not in any sort of hurry and weren’t panicking”, he said. But not scoring here in those positions is making a difference for them.

Rashid’s outstanding innings ended cruelly for England, but Pakistan were not complaining.

“Obviously it was tense in the end, because it was touch and go… but a win is a win, no matter how close”, added Misbah.

It was subsequently confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that “Cookie” is – in fact – suffering from a groin injury, although he clearly doesn’t expect it to rule him out of the crunch decider in five days’ time.

“I think we’ve competed on equal terms with them”.

“That was a spell which really changed the game for us because, at that time, England were really playing well”, Misbah noted of England’s loss of seven wickets for 36 runs on the third morning. “It’s a bit bitter today (Monday)”.

With last man James Anderson coming to the wicket, England still had 11 overs to survive but legspinner Yasir Shah got the final wicket amid huge celebrations from the Pakistan players.