If this was the defining day in the series then all the credit goes to Shakeel, who played an innings reminiscent of the late Graham Thorpe. England must also be fed up with Noman and Sajid, who have revived Pakistan with their wickets and have now struck crucial blows with the bat.

Just like the first day, the pitch was painfully slow and played fewer tricks with the older ball’s spin and bounce. Even with the new ball there was only a temporary danger for England.

For once, Ben Stokes’ tactics were questionable. Ahmed bowled just one hit in the first 47 innings in Pakistan. England behaved passively in the field, the border riders let in one after the other.

When Sajid arrived to make Pakistan’s position clear, England had no answers. Gus Atkinson was ignored until the second new ball was 15 overs old and was the man who removed Shakeel while Stokes didn’t bowl at all.

The worry was that England would go too hard against the new ball and repeat the mistakes of a 118-6 first day collapse. Pakistan’s total was what England should have achieved after the win, not 267.

As it turned out, their defense was breached as Noman and Sajid got more out of the field than the England spinners. The tourists at least have the advantage of bowling last but need the runs to make it count.