Pakistan dominated the second day with an all-round performance, as England now face a herculean task to overturn a potential loss in first Test.
Shan Masood's brilliant century helped Pakistan put a competitive total and the innings was complemented brilliantly by their bowlers, who rocked the English batting attack on the second day of the first Test.
Mohammad Abbas picked up two wickets, while Shaheen Afridi and Yasir Shah took one each as England ended at 92/4 in Manchester, requiring a herculean task on the third day. While Ollie Pope led England's fight with an unbeaten 46, Jos Buttler remained not out on 15.
The visitors faced an early setback when Babar Azam, who looked mightily impressive on the opening day of the match, was dismissed in the very first over without adding a run to his overnight total. Shan Masood, then, led the fightback for Pakistan as he held one end for the visitors.
After Asad Shafiq (7) and Mohammad Rizwan (9) were dismissed cheaply, Shadab Khan (45) helped Masood stabilise the Pakistan innings. Masood scored his fourth Test century en-route the partnership with Shadab, becoming the first Pakistan opener to score a century on English soil since Saeed Anwar in 1996.
He eventually was dismissed on 156, but not before smashing a couple of sixes towards the ending stages of the visitors' innings, steering Pakistan's total over 300.
Among English bowlers, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer took three wickets each, while Chris Woakes picked up two wickets. James Anderson and Dom Bess shared a wicket each.
England had a poor start after the break as they lost both of their openers within the first 20 deliveries, with Rory Burns (4) and Dom Sibley (8) departing cheaply. Mohammad Abbas then produced a magical delivery to dismiss in-form all-rounder Ben Stokes, cleaning his stumps -- much to the shock of both, Stokes and his batting partner Joe Root.
Root looked gritty for as long as he was on the pitch, but he was eventually forced to make a mistake as he chased a ball turning away from him by Yasir Shah, resulting in an easy catch for wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan - 326 all-out (Masood 156, Babar 69, Broad 3/54, Archer 3/59)
England - 92/4 in 28 overs (Pope 45*, Abbas 2/24, Afridi 1/12, Shah 1/36)
