England slumped to 24-3 at the end of day two in Rawalpindi to leave themselves facing a Test series defeat to Pakistan.
Saud Shakeel’s century saw Pakistan build a first-innings lead of 77 before England’s top order crumbled in nine overs before the close.
Openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley and the out-of-form Ollie Pope all failed with the bat, with Pope falling for just one.
It was Pakistan who looked in trouble at 177-7 when Rehan Ahmed took three wickets in the morning.
But an eighth-wicket stand of 88 turned the tide and the late flurry of wickets leave England with a mountain to climb.
Duckett was spared by the on-field umpire when Sajid Khan had him plumb lbw for 12, but the impassioned appeal suggested the bowler knew he had his man and DRS quickly agreed.
Crawley was static on the crease as Noman Ali got him lbw to make it four from four in their head-to-head battles.
Pope was next up and his painful run continued, jabbing Noman to slip just before bad light intervened having contributed just one.
That took his series output to 55 in five innings and will do little to quell question marks over his seemingly rock solid grip on the number-three position.
