Debutant Kamran Ghulam and Saim Ayub combined to rebuild the Pakistan innings after England spinner Jack Leach struck twice on a turning wicket in the second cricket test on Tuesday.
Left-handed opener Ayub was unbeaten on 40 and Ghulam, replacing rested Babar Azam at No. 4, was not out on 29 as Pakistan reached 79-2 at lunch after the home team won the toss and elected to bat.
Leach (2-35) knocked back the off-stump of Abdullah Shafique (7) in his second over and captain Shan Masood (3) fell to the trap of close-in fielders when Zak Crawley pounced on a low catch at short mid-wicket.
England deployed both spinners Leach and Shoaib Bashir with the new ball after just five overs after Pakistan opted to reuse the same wicket on which it suffered an innings and 47-run defeat in the first test last week.
Matthew Potts, one of the two changes made by England, and Brydon Carse, virtually found no seam movement or swing on a dry wicket before fit-again captain Ben Stokes turned to his spinners and even Joe Root bowled two overs of off-spin before lunch.
Ghulam struck a straight six to Leach in a show of rare aggression shown by both batters and Ayub survived in the last over when he got a faint edge but the ball dropped just short of wicketkeeper Jamie Smith on the leg side.
Stokes, who missed England’s 2-1 win at home against Sri Lanka and also last week’s victory in Multan, replaced Chris Woakes. Fast bowler Gus Atkinson made way for Potts, who last played a test match against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in August.
Pakistan, which is on an 11-match winless streak at home, made four changes after it became the first test-playing nation to lose a match by an innings after scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings.
Four senior players, including out-of-form Babar, were rested for the remaining two tests of the series. The spin trio of Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mahmood, who haven’t played first-class cricket for nine months, were included in the playing XI with Salman Ali Agha and Ayub the other spin options for Pakistan.
Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was ruled out of the series after he fell ill during the first test and was hospitalized.