Mohammad Yousuf rode his luck to score an unbeaten 84 runs and guide Pakistan to 185 for four in reply to England's first innings of 288 at close of play on the second day of the third Test on Wednesday.
Yousuf, who was dropped on 16 by Andrew Flintoff at second slip, held the innings together after the early loss of three wickets and the retirement of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
Inzamam retired on 35 in the first over after tea when he was hit on the right wrist by fast bowler Steve Harmison with the total on 148 for three.
He had put on 79 with Yousuf. Shoaib Akhtar was at the crease when bad light ended play 19 overs early. Play also ended 13 overs early on the first day despite the lights being on.
Yousuf, who has carried a shoulder problem during the series, survived some anxious moments to rescue Pakistan from 68 for three.
He faced an awkward time against a consistent stream of short pitched balls but survived to hit 14 fours in his innings.
His runs came after Matthew Hoggard had removed Shoaib Malik (0) and Asim Kamal (5) before lunch.
Debutant Liam Plunkett then took his first wicket on his 11th ball when he got Salman Butt (28) to edge behind to Geraint Jones.
Hasan Raza was out for 21 just before play ended, caught by Andrew Flintoff at gully off Harmison after hitting four boundaries.
Raza was only selected for the final test because Younis Khan was unavailable and Shahid Afridi had been banned for scuffing the pitch during the match at Faisalabad.
The 23-year-old had disappointed in the first Test in Multan with scores of nought and one but he played some exquisitely timed shots on both sides of the wicket during the final session.
Earlier, Paul Collingwood missed his maiden test hundred by four runs as England added just 40 to their overnight score of 248 for six.
Collingwood fell for 96 after a gutsy 162 ball-innings, which included 15 fours, when he was caught at deep fine leg by Danish Kaneria off Shoaib Akhtar.
Mohammad Sami took the last two wickets of Plunkett and Harmison in successive balls.
England need to win the Test to draw the series.
Scoreboard
England (1st innings): (Overnight: 248-6)
M. Trescothick c Akmal b Malik 50
M. Vaughan c Yousuf b Malik 58
I. Bell c Yousuf b Malik 4
P. Collingwood c Kaneria b Akhtar 96
K. Pietersen c Akmal b Naved-ul-Hasan 34
A. Flintoff c Akhtar b Naved-ul-Hasan 12
G. Jones b Kaneria 4
S. Udal c Kamal b Kaneria 10
L. Plunkett b Sami 9
M. Hoggard not out 1
S. Harmison c Akmal b Sami 0
Extras: (lb-5, nb-5) 10
Total: (all out, 94 overs) 288
Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-114, 3-115, 4-183, 5-201, 6-225, 7-249, 8-280, 9-288, 10-288.
Bowling: S. Akhtar 22-6-45-1 (nb-2), Naved-ul-Hasan 20-3-76-2, M. Sami 18-2-57-2, S. Malik 14-1-58-3 (nb-2), D. Kaneria 20-2-47-2.
Pakistan (1st innings):
S. Malik c Plunkett b Hoggard 0
S. Butt c G. Jones b Plunkett 28
A. Kamal lbw b Hoggard 5
M. Yousuf not out 84
Inzamam-ul-Haq retired hurt 35
H. Raza c Flintoff b Harmison 21
S. Akhtar not out 0
Extras: (b-1, lb-5, nb-5, w-1) 12
Total: (for 4 wickets, 52 overs) 185
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-12, 3-68, 4-180
To bat: M. Sami, Naved-ul-Hasan, K. Akmal, D. Kaneria
Bowling: M. Hoggard 8-2-22-2, A. Flintoff 14-5-34-0 (nb-5, w-1), S. Harmison 17-2-56-1, L. Plunkett 8-0-37-1, S. Udal 3-0-19-0, P. Collingwood 2-0-11-0.
