Bayliss lauds England cricket standard-bearer Joe Root

Trevor Bayliss has credited England's "best player"Joe Root with demonstrating to his team-mates the way forward in a comfortable victory over Pakistan in the second Test.

Root made a career-best 254 as the hosts reached 589-8 in their first innings before declaring at Old Trafford, ultimately sealing a 330-run triumph on day four in Manchester.

The four-match series is now level at 1-1 going into the third Test at Edgbaston, head coach Bayliss hailing the key role played by Root in responding to the surprise loss at Lord's.

"Joe, as our best player, knew he needed to step up and showed our inexperienced players how to go about it," he said.

"The rest of the batting line-up, bar [captain Alastair] Cook and Root, are still trying to find their way in international cricket, although they have put some good performances in."

England had been without premier seamer James Anderson and all-rounder Ben Stokes for a 75-run loss in London earlier this month.

The latter, identified by Bayliss as a factor in restoring England's killer-instinct, could now be missing for the third Test after pulling up with a calf injury on Monday.

"All good teams are judged on how they come back - everyone has a bad game or two but it's about how you respond and we were better this time around," he said.

"The batting, led by our two most experienced players, was the obvious one but I look at little things, like our attitude in the field.

"We got back in the zone and Jimmy Anderson and Ben Stokes helped that - they are naturally that way."

Should Stokes be ruled out, Mark Wood is likely to be recalled to challenge Steven Finn and Jake Ball for a place in the team in Birmingham.