Younis Khan was 76 not out in another key contribution for Pakistan as it reached 211-5 at lunch on the third day of the second test on Thursday, just 83 runs behind Zimbabwe's first-innings total.
Younis batted through the first session to anchor Pakistan, which lost captain Misbah-ul-Haq (33) and Asad Shafiq (10) to the new ball.
Left-arm seamer Brian Vitori took two wickets for the Zimbabweans, while Tinashe Panyangara and Tendai Chatara had one each to leave the test evenly balanced halfway through.
Zimbabwe will have been boosted to see Misbah leave when he was caught by Hamilton Masakadza off Vitori. Zimbabwe had a second breakthrough soon before lunch when Chatara's in-cutter bowled Shafiq — although the umpires had to check on television replays if the bowler had over-stepped the crease for a no ball.
However, Younis was till there and his innings will be crucial to Pakistan's hopes of overhauling Zimbabwe's 294 and maybe moving into a lead. His double century in the first test turned that game and helped the tourists into a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Younis had hit nine fours and faced 216 balls by lunch.