England vs Pakistan: 'We feel it’s even, 50-50. We’ve got ourselves back into the Test match,' says Chris Woakes

Now Woakes is targeting a victory that would hand England a 2-1 lead heading into next week’s final Test at The Oval

Chris Woakes celebrates after taking the wicket of Pakistan's Younis Khan (Getty)

Chris Woakes believes England can win the third Test against Pakistan after captain Alastair Cook and Alex Hales’ first century opening stand together wiped out a 103-run first-innings deficit on day three in Birmingham.

The opening pair, playing together in their 10th Test, led the hosts to 120 without loss at the close and rescued their team from a potentially perilous position. Now Woakes is targeting a victory that would hand England a 2-1 lead heading into next week’s final Test at The Oval.

He said: “That stand at the end of the day was massive. It was not only a really important partnership for us as a team but also for those two as an opening stand.

“Going into the innings 103 runs behind is tough and for them to cancel it out the way they have is crucial and great for the team.

“It gives us a great chance of setting up this Test match. Ten wickets in hand is crucial and hopefully we can kick on.

“We feel it’s even, 50-50. We’ve got ourselves back into the Test match - there’s still a lot of hard work to do. But it’s great we’ve given ourselves that opportunity.”

Woakes also played down the significance of James Anderson being removed from England’s attack for the remainder of Pakistan’s first innings after receiving his third warning for running onto the protected area of the pitch.

“He’s striving hard for the team and trying to bowl as well as he can, which he has done ever so well over the years,” said Woakes.

“It’s just unfortunate I suppose. The umpires thought he was running on therefore they stuck to their guns. It didn’t hurt us too much as a team. We had them eight down at the time. It’s been a great day for us so that didn’t hurt us at all actually.”