London: England captain Alastair Cook praised his side`s resilience as they came from behind to beat Pakistan in the third Test at Edgbaston.
Cook`s men were 103 runs in arrears on first innings yet won by 141 runs on Sunday`s last day to go 2-1 up in the four-match series ahead of next week`s finale at The Oval.
Pakistan, set a target of 343 in 84 overs, were dismissed for 201 inside the last hour after a dramatic collapse against England`s pacemen before tea saw them lose four wickets for one run in 23 balls.
England`s second innings, which featured fifties from Cook, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and man-of-the-match Moeen Ali, allowed Cook to declare early on Sunday at 445 for six.
"I think it could be right up there," said Cook when asked how he rated this victory at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We seemed to be behind pretty much most of the game, hanging in there, and then when we got the chance to win the game, we were fantastic."
The opening batsman, England`s all-time leading Test run-scorer, added: "We fought really hard. I did say at the beginning, probably at tea time, I thought it would be a first innings versus fourth innings.
"But it showed great character from the guys to come back and bowl like we did and for them not to get too much of a lead. We batted really well in the third innings of the game."
After Pakistan lost six wickets either side of the tea break, the tourists` final pair of Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali delayed defeat with a stand of 67.
But off-spinner Ali eventually separated the last-wicket duo when he caught and bowled Sohail for 36.
"I did have a little bit of doubt in my mind at some stage, but then I reminded myself we would get a couple more chances," Cook said.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said the way England`s pacemen made use of the slight reverse swing on offer in the second session, after the tourists had been well-placed at 69 for one at lunch, was a decisive factor in his side`s defeat.
"England reversed the ball, bowled in the right areas, and within an hour they took the game away from us," Misbah told BBC Radio`s Test Match Special.
"Sometimes when the ball starts reversing you just need to see off that 10-15 overs so the ball gets soft, but we lost all our main batsmen then."
He added: "Full credit to England for the way they fought back after we had a lead of more than a hundred."
