England pacemen Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison took four wickets between them to restrict Pakistan to 244 for six at close on the first day of the first Test at the Multan cricket stadium on Saturday.
On a pitch offering little, Flintoff and Harmison, who grabbed two wickets in one over after tea, pegged back the home side from 161 for one to 183 for five.
Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (41 not out) and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who made 28, then shared a damage-control stand of 55 for the sixth wicket.
Inzamam stood firm, trying to ensure that the solid foundation provided by the earlier batsmen was not wasted, including a good opening stand of 80 by openers Salman Butt (74) and Shoaib Malik (39).
Butt also put on 81 for the second wicket with Younis Khan (39) before he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Geraint Jones.
Off-spinner Shaun Udal, making his Test debut at the age of 36, picked Butt's wicket but there was a degree of luck, the ball ricocheting off the temple of slip Marcus Trescothick and down into the hands of the diving Jones
Butt said: "The pitch is still good for a total of 400-plus but we squandered our chance today."
Harmison rocked Pakistan first ball after tea when they resumed on 181 for three by trapping Younis and then, five balls later, bowling Hasan Raza with a fast inswinger.
Raza, playing his first Test in three years, was softened up with a quick bouncer that hit him on the shoulder and soon after lost his off-stump.
Flintoff, persistent in four spells, had provided the breakthrough by trapping Malik leg before in the morning session with a good inswinger and later bowled Yousuf with a perfect yorker.
The all-rounder returned figures of two for 49 from 17.4 overs. Harmison had two for 37 from 16 overs and Udal one for 47 off 17 overs.
Scorecard
Pakistan (1st innings):
S. Malik lbw Flintoff 39
S. Butt c G. Jones b Udal 74
Y. Khan lbw Harmison 39
M. Yousuf b Flintoff 5
Inzamam-ul-Haq not out 41
H. Raza b Harmison 0
K. Akmal c Trescothick b Hoggard 28
M. Sami not out 1.
Extras: (lb-7, nb-10) 17
Total: (for 6 wickets, 87.4 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-161, 3-166, 4-181, 5-183, 6-238
To bat: D. Kaneria, S. Ahmed, S. Akhtar
Bowling: M. Hoggard 17-3-45-1 (nb-3), S. Harmison 16-5-37-2, A. Flintoff 17.4-5-49-2 (nb-7), P. Collingwood 4-1-15-0, A. Giles 16-3-44-0, S. Udal 17-3-47-1.
