Pakistan’s openers got among the runs on a placid pitch Friday as they took the home team to 181 without loss in reply to England’s mammoth 657 in the first Test in Rawalpindi.
At close on day two, Imam-ul-Haq (90) and Abdullah Shafique (89) were approaching hundreds when umpires called stumps with 17 overs remaining.
The home team still need 277 runs to avoid the follow-on.
The pitch was again unresponsive to bowlers as the England attack, led by James Anderson, toiled in the same manner as the home side earlier.
Watch Pakistan v England. Every test match live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Nasser Hussain described the pitch as an “absolute road” while the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman Ramiz Raja said it was “embarrassing for us”.
“We live in the dark ages of pitches in Pakistan,” he told reporters, adding, “it’s embarrassing for us, especially if you have a cricketer as chairman.”
On the same pitch in March this year, some 1,187 runs were scored for the loss of just 14 wickets as Pakistan and Australia played out a tame draw.
Rawalpindi was termed “below average” by International Cricket Council match referee Ranjan Madugalle, who also awarded it a demerit point.
A venue is banned for 12 months if it accumulates five demerit points over a period of five years.
Pakistan has played little Test cricket at home for over a decade as security issues forced fixtures to neutral grounds abroad.
After the criticism earlier this year, Raja brought in Australian specialist Damien Hough, who suggested removable drop-in pitches as a solution.
“I think our way out is for drop-in pitches,” Raja said.
“If you want to nail England, for example, we’ve got to prepare a drop-in pitch that turns from ball number one.
“It is better than having this hodge-podge where you get a half-baked pitch which is neither quick nor spin.”
Pope gets caught telling a fib | 00:38
Shafique was lucky to survive a confident caught behind appeal by Ollie Pope off a rising delivery. Although umpire Joel Wilson gave a soft signal for out, television official Marais Erasmus overruled it.
Haq, who scored a century in each innings on the same pitch in a Test against Australia in March, pushed spinner Jack Leach for two to complete 1,000 runs in his 17th Test.
Shafique, who also scored a hundred against Australia in the March test, cracked two boundaries to reach his fifth half-century in his eighth Test, highlighting his rapid progress.
Haq followed suit soon after, taking a single off Joe Root for his fifth half-century.
Earlier, resuming at 506-4, England added 151 runs in 125 minutes, with Harry Brook taking his overnight score of 101 to 153 — one of four centurions in the innings.
Skipper Ben Stokes (41), debutant Liam Livingstone (nine) and Brook were all dismissed by pacer Naseem Shah, who finished with 3-140.
Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood conceded 235 for his four wickets — the most by a bowler on a Test debut.
“I bowled my heart out,” he said later, adding that he thinks the pitch could take spin on day four and five.
How will Baz-ball impact next Ashes? | 04:36
Brook admitted it would be difficult to bowl a side out twice on the wicket. “It would be tough to get 20 wickets, but we will definitely give it a crack,” he said.
“When we were batting it started to get a bit lower… hopefully, Stokes can figure out a plan to get wickets.”
England’s total is their highest against Pakistan in all Tests, improving on their 589-9 at Manchester in 2016.
On Thursday England became the first team to score 500 runs on the opening day of a Test match, bettering Australia’s 112-year-old record of 494-6 against South Africa in Sydney.
Zak Crawley (122), Ollie Pope (108) and Ben Duckett (107) were the other centurions in the innings.
The three-match Test series is England’s first in Pakistan for 17 years, having declined to tour in the interim because of security fears.
