All-rounders Salman Ali Agha and Aamer Jamal rescued the hosts after England bowlers ran through Pakistan’s batting lineup, reaching 152 for six at the end of the fourth day at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
England need only four wickets now for an innings victory over Pakistan in the first Test after the hosts’ dramatic batting collapse following the visitors’ mammoth 823-7.
It was a 267-run lead courtesy of Harry Brook’s triple century and Joe Root’s double hundred for the visiting side.
The Green Shirts got off to a disastrous start as Abdullah Shafique, who had scored a century in the first innings, fell prey to Chris Woakes in the very first over of the second innings.
The bowlers of England continued with their destruction as the Pakistani batters failed to make good use of a batting-friendly pitch, with the scoreboard reading 87 for 6.
The visitors declared their first innings at a gigantic 823-7 before tea on the fourth day with a lead of 267 runs.
Harry Brook notched up a superb 317 and Joe Root hit 262 as both batsmen notched up their highest Test scores on an extremely flat wicket at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
The visitors’ mammoth 823-run total represents the second time in history a team was able to score more than 700 runs in a Test match against Pakistan.
The West Indies scored 790-3 against the Men in Green in 1958. Earlier in the day, both Root and Brook propelled their side way past Pakistan’s 556-run total in the first innings with the former becoming the first English batter to make 20,000 international runs.
He was handed a reprieve on 186 when Babar Azam dropped the simplest of catches at mid-wicket, and he made most of the reprieve to bring up his sixth double-century with a single before kissing the badge on his helmet in celebration.
By scoring his sixth double ton, Root went past Cook again with only Wally Hammond, who has seven, ahead of him in England’s list. On Wednesday, he had sailed past Alastair Cook as England’s leading run-scorer in Tests.