Chris Woakes was denied one of the great juggling boundary catches after third umpire Chris Gaffaney controversially ruled that his trailing right foot was grounded outside the rope.
Pakistan all-rounder Salman Ali Agha was on the attack after lunch on day two, when he launched Jack Leach down the ground.
Woakes, an outstanding fielder, was stationed at long-off and, peddling back, caught the ball, threw it up in the air as he stepped outside the rope, before hopping back in to take the catch.
England, and indeed Salman, thought the catch had been legally taken and Gaffaney’s early replays suggested they were right. But, on further slow motion inspection, Gaffaney concluded that Woakes’s back foot was still touching the ground outside the boundary when the ball returned to his hands.
England’s fielders could scarcely believe it and the punishment was severe, with the scorebook saying only that the ball had gone for six. When Salman gave the same treatment to Leach’s next ball, the pill was even more bitter to swallow.
Such catches are very common in white-ball cricket, when multiple boundary riders are posted and often throw the ball to one another while diving beyond the rope. In Test cricket, it is a less common sight.
Salman helped Pakistan put their foot down after lunch, following the loss of nightwatchman Naseem Shah and Mohammad Rizwan in quick succession before the break. On a slightly cooler second day, the obdurate Saud Shakeel, with the help of Naseem, had frustrated disciplined England early on. They ticked past 400 immediately after lunch as they looked to build a total that would bat England out of the game on a very flat pitch.
Brydon Carse made Naseem his first Test wicket, caught at leg-slip, while Leach picked up Rizwan.
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