Pakistan batted cautiously to reach 181 without loss at the end of the second day of the opening Test against England, but still trailing behind 476 runs.
Openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique were unbeaten on 90 and 89 respectively as Pakistan replied to England’s 657 on a flat Rawalpindi Stadium pitch.
Haq, who scored a century in each innings on the same pitch in a Test against Australia in March, pushed spinner Jack Leach for two to complete 1,000 runs in his 17th Test.
Shafique, who also scored a hundred against Australia in the March test, cracked two boundaries to reach his fifth half-century in his eighth Test, highlighting his rapid progress.
Haq followed suit soon after, taking a single off Joe Root for his fifth half-century. Earlier, resuming at 506-4, England added 151 runs in 125 minutes, with Harry Brook taking his overnight score of 101 to 153 — one of four centurions in the innings.
Skipper Ben Stokes (41), debutant Liam Livingstone (nine), and Brook were all dismissed by pacer Naseem Shah, who finished with 3-140.
Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood conceded 235 for his four wickets — the most by a bowler on a Test debut.
Previously, Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv conceded 222 against India in Colombo in 2010.
England’s total is their highest against Pakistan in all Tests, improving on their 589-9 at Manchester in 2016.
On Thursday England became the first team to score 500 runs on the opening day of a Test match, bettering Australia’s 112-year-old record of 494-6 against South Africa in Sydney.
Zak Crawley (122), Ollie Pope (108) and Ben Duckett (107) were the other centurions in the innings.
The three-match Test series is England’s first in Pakistan for 17 years, having declined to tour in the interim because of security fears.
England and Pakistan will contest a three-Test series with the first match already started from Dec 1-5, the second in Multan from Dec 9-13 and the third in Karachi from Dec 17-21.
