JAMES Vince made 42 as England inched towards safety on a hard-fought fourth afternoon of the third Investec Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston.

Joe Root (62) and Vince dug in again for a no-frills partnership of 95 in 36 overs but both were gone before tea, Vince frustratingly for a joint career-best 42 as he again failed to post his maiden Test half-century.

England closed day four on 414-5, a lead of 311 in this pivotal match of a series level at 1-1.

But they were effectively 23-2 when Alastair Cook and Alex Hales departed, and in potential trouble again after their day three fightback.

Root and Vince could not afford to take any chances, and a stalemate developed as Pakistan too refused to chase the game - their seamers holding the ball outside off-stump on this slow pitch and Yasir keeping a much tighter line.

There were four successive maidens before Vince squeezed two runs wide of slip off Yasir, and then followed up next ball by whipping the leg-spinner through midwicket for four.

Root spent 19 balls stuck on 25, during which he played and missed several times but mostly left Rahat Ali before edging the left-armer low to slip - where Mohammad Hafeez could not hold on.

He was hampered by back trouble and needed to take pain-killers as he and Vince continued to keep Pakistan at bay until mid-afternoon.

Root had his 50 by then but paid eventually for revisiting the sweep shot out of the leg-side rough against Yasir round the wicket, lobbing an unmissable catch to short fine-leg.

Vince had been a study in risk avoidance for more than three hours yet, with his breakthrough 50 tantalisingly close, he fell to Amir’s first delivery with the second new ball - followed and compliantly guided, from short of a length, to second slip.