The longest-ever Test innings by an Englishman came to an end at 836 minutes as Alastair Cook lost his wicket in the closing stages on day four of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.
Cook scored 263 runs off 528 balls and his time at the crease, just shy of 14 hours, surpassed the 1938 English record of Len Hutton. It was also the third-longest innings by any Test batsman ever.
© AFP
A draw is all but certain on day five, with England closing day four on 569-8 with a lead of 46 runs.
Cook's wicket was one of three to fall in the final session today and first to go after tea was Ben Stokes, who was clean-bowled by Shoaib Malik after notching 57 off 87 balls.
It was the first wicket claimed by spin in the Test by either side after 170 overs of break bowling had failed to bring about a dismissal on a flat surface.
Malik was also the man to get Cook as the captain swept the ball to short-fine-leg, but replays showed that he should have stayed at the crease because Malik overstepped the line. However, the no-ball was not spotted by the umpire.
Jos Buttler then fell after hitting a quickfire 23 off 28 balls, leaving Adil Rashid (6*) and Stuart Broad (0*) at the crease when bad light brought an end to the day's play.
