After eliminating both of England’s openers on a tricky Multan pitch on Thursday, Pakistan were in a strong position to win the second Test and level the series, with spinner Sajid Khan being the hero.
Sajid dismissed Ben Duckett for a duck and fellow spinner Noman Ali bowled Zak Crawley for three, leaving England on 36-2 after day three. The hosts had set England a daunting target of 297.
With 261 required for victory and two days remaining, Ollie Pope and Joe Root were both unbeaten on 21 and 12, respectively.
Before that, middle-order batsman Salman Agha made 63 and helped Pakistan reach 221 in their second innings with a ninth-wicket stand of 65 with Sajid (22) to rescue the home team from a precarious 134-5 position.
England’s spinners Shoaib Bashir (4-66) and Jack Leach (3-67) had put the visitors on the path to a second victory, but England did not help themselves and dropped Agha on four and then six.
Brydon Carse (2-29) ended up dismissing Agha, who was caught in the slip, before fellow pacer Matthew Potts bowled out Sajid to end the innings.
Pakistan, who made 366 in their most memorable innings, trail the three-match series 1-0 following an innings misfortune in the main Test, likewise in Multan.
Offspinner Sajid had earlier scored 7-111, his second five-wicket haul, to bowl England out for 291 on a pitch that was turning after the first Test, when it was an ideal batting surface.
