Jamie Smith unleashed a barrage of sixes to power England’s fightback in the series-deciding third Test against Pakistan, helping his side to 242 for eight on day one in Rawalpindi.
England looked ready to roll over at 118 for six, their middle order hollowed out by spin, but Smith’s flamboyant knock of 89 steered the tourists away from calamity.
He cleared the boundary six times in a display of expertly controlled aggression before skying another big swing off Zahid Mahmood just before the tea break.
Smith led a stand of 107 with Surrey team-mate Gus Atkinson to repair some of the earlier damage but England will still feel vulnerable after failing to make the most of batting first on a dubious surface.
Pakistan found plenty of turn from a pitch that had been dried, baked and raked in the build-up to assist the spinners and one ball shot through unplayably low to remove Ben Duckett for 52.
The touring team had 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, pairing Sajid Khan and Noman Ali from the start with not even a cursory look at their solitary seamer Aamer Jamal. They would bowl unchanged for the first 42 overs.
England made steady progress to start, Zak Crawley and Duckett posting 56 in 14 overs – a red herring of a partnership given what was around the corner. The latter survived an lbw shout on 20, though there was a warning flag when DRS showed the ball had been spinning too sharply and was missing leg stump.
Crawley (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 Pope and Root picked apart by Sajid.
Pope’s lean series continued as he fell for three – lbw on the sweep as he went over the top – but Root’s downfall hurt the most. England’s most accomplished player of spin was pinned dead in front of the stumps as Sajid got a delivery to rip back aggressively from the ridges outside off.
Duckett nudged past his half-century before getting a shin-high shooter from Noman that scuttled into his front pad, while Harry Brook lost his leg stump to Sajid reaching for an ill-judged sweep.
By then England had lost four for 28 and looked in serious danger. Smith’s first triumph was reaching the lunch interval unscathed alongside Stokes but the captain did not linger long. Attempting to smoother Sajid 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 but the pace picked once the England keeper decided he was settled. His 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.