England picked up three wickets on the second morning in Multan but were unable to finish Pakistan off as they moved to 358 for eight at lunch.
Brydon Carse continued his impressive start in Test cricket, getting Mohammad Rizwan caught behind early on, and there were further breakthroughs for Matthew Potts and Jack Leach.
But an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 49 between Aamer Jamal and Noman Ali frustrated the tourists and added important runs to the total on a re-used pitch that is still expected to break up as the game moves on.
The hosts scored 99 runs in the session, with England unable to shut down the the scoring sufficiently to swamp the lower order.
Resuming at 259 for five, England opened up with pace at both ends and were celebrating inside three overs, Carse bounding in and taking Rizwan’s outside edge with one that angled in then nipped away off the pitch.
Rizwan had somehow survived a torrid time on the first evening but his luck finally ran out on 41 as Jamie Smith swallowed the catch.
Carse’s accuracy saw him concede just 19 from his first 15 overs of the innings but he finally tired, with his last over of the morning leaking 16 on its own.
Potts swapped ends to replace his Durham colleague and brought an end to Salman Agha’s lively knock of 31, collecting a nick as he went once too often to the fine cut.
By now the score had ticked past 300 but England continued to make inroads, Sajid Khan lasting just nine balls before chipping Leach to Joe Root at short cover.
England would have been hoping to wrap things up before the break but could not add to their haul as Jamal and Noman shared nine boundaries. There was further frustration for Shoaib Bashir, who has struggled to cause consistent problems in the series and saw his figures move to one for 85 from 28 overs.
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