Former England captain Michael Vaughan said Gay “played nicely” but might reflect on an missed opportunity to reach three figures for the first time after he dragged on a delivery from Razaullah Khan.

“Emilio Gay found his balance early. He had it hard at the start and then he found his flow,” Vaughan said.

“He’ll be really disappointed to get out for 60. He’ll be desperate to get his first Test match century and I thought it was on today.

“That extra little bit of pace from Razaullah and a little lack of concentration at the end of the day has cost him.”

England seamer Josh Tongue said Gay’s rigorous preparation has helped him develop the necessary powers of concentration for Test cricket.

“The one thing I’ve seen in Emilio is he trains really hard in the nets. He’ll bat for ages, putting a lot of hard work in, and it’s shown on the pitch,” added Tongue.

“Even last week at Lord’s, he had two quite horrible dismissals, but I felt today he batted unbelievable on a tricky pitch.

“He was obviously really disappointed with how he got out. It’s not a nice feeling, chopping on, but he’s put the team in a really good position for tomorrow.”