England vs Pakistan: Alastair Cook heaps praise on his side after admitting third Test win is 'up there' with the best

England fought back brilliantly from behind to claim a thrilling final day victory over Pakistan

Steven Finn is swamped by his England teammates after taking the wicket of Sami Aslam (Getty)

Alastair Cook hailed the fighting spirit of his England team after they pulled off one of the finest wins of his Test captaincy against Pakistan in Birmingham.

England, who were 103 runs behind on first innings in this pivotal third Test, took nine wickets in the last two sessions on the final day to seal a stunning 141-run victory.

It means Cook’s side will head to The Oval for this week’s final Test with a 2-1 series lead after what their captain rated as one of the best performances since he took charge of the team in 2012.

“It’s up there,” he said. “Yes, we were up against it but we were never that far out of it. “It was just a pleasing because I don’t think that many people thought we would win.

"I just think we’ve been very good when we’ve been ahead - once we’ve got ahead we’ve managed to dominate sides.

"This is the first one in a while we’ve been behind and fought back. It was great character from the guys to come back like we did.”

Chris Woakes celebrates after taking a wicket on the final day of the Test against Pakistan (Getty)

England will climb to the top of the world rankings if they win at The Oval and India fail to beat West Indies in both of their final two Tests of their current series in the Caribbean.

But Cook said: “If we do become No 1 after The Oval that is fantastic but I wouldn’t say we’re anywhere near our potential.

“If that happens it’s a bit of an irrelevance for me because this side’s still got so much further to go.”

James Vince has been passed fit for the final Test despite dislocating the ring finger on his left hand fielding on the final day at Edgbaston.

Scans cleared the Hampshire batsman of any break, meaning he is fit to take his place in an unchanged 13-man England squad for The Oval.