Jamie Smith unleashed a barrage of sixes to fight England’s corner in Rawalpindi, as 13 wickets tumbled on day one of the series-deciding third Test against Pakistan.
The tourists looked ready to roll over completely at 118 for six, their middle order hollowed out by spin, but Smith’s flamboyant knock of 89 brought England back into the contest with 267 all out.
Coming in at number seven the wicketkeeper cleared the boundary six times in a display of expertly controlled aggression, a standout effort that showed exactly why the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes were moved on in the summer.
Smith led a stand of 105 with Surrey team-mate Gus Atkinson, who made 39, to repair some of the damage wrought in a morning session that saw four key batters fall for just 28 runs, but they needed their attack to stand up too.
With 23 overs left before stumps Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach and Atkinson all struck to leave Pakistan 73 for three and the game in the balance.
Pakistan found plenty of turn from a pitch that their groundstaff had dried, baked and raked in the build-up to assist their spinners, with Sajid Khan and Noman Ali again combining to do the damage.
The pair shared all 20 wickets in Multan last time out – just the seventh duo in history to do so – and added another nine here.
The only one they did not manage was the key scalp of Smith, who over-reached against leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood just before tea with a century in touching distance.
England predicted the surface would start flat and deteriorate as the game progressed, leaving Ben Stokes visibly delighted to bat first after ending England’s seven-match losing streak at the toss.
Pakistan picked up exactly where they had left off in the second Test, handing Sajid and Noman the new ball and keeping them unchanged for 42 overs.
England made steady progress to start, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett posting 56 in 14 overs but their partnership proved a red herring given what was around the corner.
There was a warning flag when Duckett survived an lbw shout on 20, DRS sparing him but only because the ball had spun too sharply and was missing leg stump.
Crawley, on 29, could not blame excessive turn for his dismissal though, looking to punch Noman through extra-cover but only getting half forward as he carved a simple catch to backward point.
That breakthrough appeared to tip the balance in Pakistan’s favour, with Ollie Pope and Joe Root picked apart by Sajid.
Pope took his series tally to 54 in four innings when he was lbw for three on the sweep but the loss of Root in single figures felt more significant.
England’s most accomplished player of spin is rarely undone as comprehensively as he was by one that ripped back in aggressively off the ridges outside off and nestled for a split-second between his pads.
Duckett nudged his way to a useful 52 and was blameless as Noman’s shin-high shooter struck him clean in front.
Harry Brook may not be able to say the same, stepping out to sweep Sajid and diverting into his leg stump, with England looking in serious danger having slipped from 70 for one to 98 for five.
Smith’s first triumph was reaching the lunch interval unscathed alongside Stokes but the captain did not linger long.
Attempting to smother Sajid’s spin at the start of the afternoon session, he was beaten on the outside edge and taken at slip.
Smith and Atkinson carefully stopped the rot with calm defence but the pace soon picked up. Smith’s first four sixes all came against Sajid, lining up the off-spinner and launching him over midwicket or back down the ground.
Saud Shakeel might have caught him on 54 had he not wandered in from the boundary but Smith was unbowed.
He smashed Mahmood for two more in three balls and went again moments later. This time Sajid was underneath it at long-off, twice holding the catch and twice offloading it as his momentum carried him over the rope.
Smith was not interested in playing for tea and departed 11 short of a richly-deserved century, swiping a top-edge straight up to give the leg-spinner a moment of respite.
Sajid finished off the tail to finish with six for 128, passing the baton to the opposition spinners to try their luck.
Bashir squashed a bright start by the openers when he had Abdullah Shafique lbw in the 10th over and Saim Ayub gave it away badly when he lobbed Leach to short midwicket.
England craved another before stumps and it came when Atkinson belatedly landed a blow for the seamers’ union, knocking back Kamran Ghulam’s off stump with one that nipped in and kept low.