After Pakistan finished their first innings on 363 for a lead of 179, England had slipped to 110/6 and were staring at an innings defeat. But an unbroken association of 125 runs between Buttler (66*) and Bess (55*) not only helped England pull level, but also took them 56 runs ahead and gave them a glimmer of hope.

“We will try to hit the right areas when we come in the morning so we get a lower target. A new ball is also due in the morning. It won’t be easy to play it on this wicket. Especially, the way (Mohammad) Amir and (Mohammad) Abbas are bowling, it will be very difficult for this pair to handle them,” said Shafiq.

“Everyone is very confident. Everybody is saying that we will chase the target, whatever it will be. The way our new boys batted against Ireland gave confidence to them and to the whole team. It made us realise how we have to go about our tasks if wickets fall early on.

“We will not be happy to chase anything over 150. We will try to get them out below 150 as we have to bat in the fourth innings.”