Cricket latest: Cook shows form at last but England collapse

All eyes were on Cook at the start of the day and he responded eloquently to questions over his place in the side with a gutsy 110 at The Oval.

But just as England began to entertain ideas of setting up a match-winning lead, Pakistan took four wickets for 12 runs after tea to turn the game on its head.

With 70 overs gone, the hosts were 209 for seven, a lead of just 134.

England's selectors and players have been unwavering in their support of Cook but there was a sense that he needed a major score here to justify their continued faith.

At six for one and 69 runs behind it was a tense starting point and, despite middling one to the midwicket boundary, the pressure on Cook soon looked to be telling.

Mohammad Asif twice located the left-hander's outside edge in the fourth over of the day but there were early signs that the luck, for once, was with Cook.

Both balls drew an indecisive prod from the batsman but each dropped short of the cordon and squirmed to the boundary.

He looked safer against Mohammad Aamer, turning the left-armer through mid-wicket for four more to move past his previous best of 17 in the series.

Nightwatchman James Anderson hit one crunching cover drive before Saeed Ajmal removed him with a loosener and Cook was again fortunate not to follow him when a thick edge off Wahab Riaz flew between slip and gully.

Riaz then rapped him on the pads just before drinks but did not call for what could have proved an awkward review.

After that Cook began to settle and, with Jonathan Trott happy to surrender the strike, he moved through the forties with some sumptuous work through the covers.

The scores were level by the time Cook reached 49, with a single taking England into the lead and earning the batsman a warm round of applause from a full-house.

He looked a different player, attacking good length balls and hammering Riaz for four past backward point to bring up the 50 partnership.

The afternoon session began under murky skies but there was little movement through the air for Pakistan's bowlers.

Asif persevered regardless and almost had Trott playing on with 21 to his name.

Cook was hitting his stride at the other end, cutting Ajmal for a pair of fours in the 42nd over.

That brought him to 97 and all that was required to see him to three figures was a firm defensive prod to Asif, who obligingly hurled the ball high over Cook's head for four lamentable overthrows.

When the end came it was a soft one, tickling a leg-side Riaz delivery to Kamran Akmal but his innings one of genuine substance.

That brought Kevin Pietersen to join Trott, who had contributed only 25 to a 116-stand with Cook.

With Trott continuing to anchor one end, Pietersen briefly fired before tea but despite a smattering of boundaries his 23-run offering was again unsatisfactory.

Ajmal ended his stay with the sixth ball after the break, Pietersen lunging unsuccessfully at one that spun sharply to hit off stump.

Trott was next to go, slicing Aamer to gully having made 36 in a painstaking three-and-a-half hours.

With five down, England's 120-run lead suddenly looked flimsy.

Paul Collingwood did little to help the situation, lasting only 10 balls before flashing at Aamer and feeding Kamran Akmal a third catch.

Eoin Morgan joined the post-tea procession when Ajmal forced one through his defences to bowl him for five.