MANCHESTER: Mohammad Abbas removed Rory Burns after Yasir Shah added valuable late-order runs for Pakistan on the fourth day of the first Test against England at Old Trafford on Saturday.
England were 55-1 at lunch, still needing a further 222 runs to reach a challenging victory target of 277.
Dom Sibley was 26 not out and Joe Root, the England captain, 18 not out.
The pair kept Pakistan at bay after Burns (10) was lbw to Mohammad Abbas to leave England 22-1, with the accurate seamer pinning the left-hander on the back leg from around the wicket.
Abbas had lunch figures of 1-13 from six overs, with a disciplined Sibley and Root content to pick off the occasional loose balls in the face of some tight Pakistan bowling.
Only twice has a team chased more than 200 to win in the fourth innings of a Test at Old Trafford, with England making 294-4 against New Zealand in 2008 and 231-3 against the West Indies in 2004.
Pakistan resumed on 137-8, a lead of 244.
The tail then frustrated England by adding 32 runs in just 16 balls before Pakistan were dismissed for 169 in their second innings.
Yasir struck a quickfire 33 off 24 balls, including five fours and a six after taking 4-66 in his primary role as a leg-spinner during England's modest first-innings 219.
Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes, who had taken four wickets between them late Friday to drag England back into the match, did not bowl on Saturday, with Root opting instead for Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad.
Yasir, 12 not out overnight, extended the lead past 250 by taking 10 runs off the first three balls of Saturday's play from fast bowler Archer.
A clipped legside two was followed by a powerful pull for four well in front of square from a short ball that did not get up.
And when Archer dropped short outside off stump, Yasir cleverly uppercut him high over the slips for another boundary.
Yasir then promptly clubbed Broad's first ball Saturday through midwicket for four.
And he surpassed that stroke when, two balls later, he hoisted Broad for a magnificent six.
Broad had Yasir caught behind but by then the damage had been done.
Last man Naseem Shah then played a shot worthy of a top order batsman when he got off the mark first ball by lofting Broad straight back over his head for four before he was bowled by Archer.
England are trying to end a run of losing the first Test in each of their last five series.
This is the first of a three-Test contest, with Pakistan having not lost a series against England since 2010.