England falter after sound start

England's hopes of maintaining their advantage against Pakistan in the third npower Test were undermined with the loss of three wickets before lunch at Headingley.

Deciding to bat first despite overhead conditions ideal for swing bowling, England progressed impressively with an unbroken 67-run opening stand in only 16 overs.

But their solid start was halted with Pakistan claiming two wickets in successive overs to leave the hosts struggling on 67 for two - and by lunch on the opening day they had slipped to 110 for three.

Still buoyant from their innings-and-120-run victory inside three days at Old Trafford last week, England punished a wayward early spell from seamer Mohammad Sami.

Marcus Trescothick quickly latched on to Sami by driving him down the ground for the first boundary in the opening over. Captain Andrew Strauss responded in similar fashion, hitting two boundaries in Sami's next over to prompt Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to withdraw him from the attack after his opening four-over spell cost 22 runs.

Umar Gul was causing more problems from the Kirkstall Lane End, his late swing beating Trescothick three times in succession.

But it was not until Inzamam recalled Sami to the attack from the other end as a replacement for Gul that Pakistan made their first breakthrough.

Sami struck in his second over back with Trescothick, who was attempting to drive back down the ground, offering a return catch which was collected at the second attempt.

Four balls later, Strauss followed his opening partner back - having edged Shahid Nazir, one of three changes to Pakistan's line-up, low to Younis Khan at second slip.

Essex batsman Alastair Cook, who had scored centuries in both the previous Tests in the series, progressed to 23 in a 43-run stand with Kevin Pietersen but fell in the final over before lunch - offering Gul a low return catch via a leading edge.