The 35-year-old was just three runs away from his ninth Test hundred as he took Pakistan to 146-3 at the close on the third day at Sharjah stadium, leading by 74 runs with seven wickets intact.

Nightwatchman Rahat Ali was the other not out batsman on nought as Pakistan lost the key wicket of Younis Khan for 14, trapped leg-before by fast bowler Stuart Broad with just two overs to go in the day.

But Hafeez held the innings together well, smashing nine boundaries and three sixes during his aggressive 155-ball knock as Pakistan seek to avoid squandering a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Pakistan won the second Test in Dubai while the first Test ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi.

Earlier, off-spinner Shoaib Malik took a career best 4-33 as England were bowled out for 306 in their first innings, taking a 72-run lead over Pakistan’s total of 234. James Taylor top-scored with 76.

Pakistan were lucky not to lose Hafeez after Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford gave him caught behind off paceman James Anderson in the fifth over of the innings with the score on four.

But Hafeez, then on two, challenged the decision and got away on referral as television replays showed there was a gap between ball and bat, much to the relief of the Pakistan camp.

Hafeez said he was happy to lead the fightback.

“We needed a good start and I am happy that Ali and I gave that,” said Hafeez. “We need to bat like this tomorrow as well to post a challenging target for England and I am hopeful that we will do that.”

Pakistan were off to a confident start of 101 — only their second 50-plus opening stand in Sharjah — with Hafeez earning the lead by hitting spinner Samit Patel for a four and then taking three runs.

He completed his 13th Test half-century with another boundary off Patel and then hoisted James Anderson for a six and four to post the 100-mark.

The 25-year-old, playing his first Test since 2012, kept Pakistan at bay with an unbeaten 74 and found an able ally in Jonny Bairstow (37 not out) as the two put on an invaluable 83 for the unbroken fifth-wicket stand at Sharjah Stadium.

That leaves England just 12 behind Pakistan’s first-innings total of 234 with six wickets intact as they hope to gain a decisive lead in their bid to level the three-match series.

Pakistan lead the series 1-0 after winning the second Test in Dubai while the first Test ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi.

Taylor kept England in the hunt as he survived a keen tussle between bat and ball, with Pakistan’s spin duo of Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar threatening to take wickets.

But Taylor, playing his first Test since his two debut Tests against South Africa three years ago, batted with resolve, using his feet and sweeping to blunt the spin.

He pushed paceman Wahab Riaz for a single to reach his first half century off 100 balls. He has so far hit six boundaries during his 141-ball fight. When Taylor walked in England were struggling at 97-3 after Alastair Cook (49) and Joe Root — their two key batsmen — had been dismissed. Taylor added 42 for the fourth wicket with Ian Bell (40) to steady the innings as Pakistan attacked through both pace and spin.

For Pakistan, Shah took 2-79 while Babar went wicket-less in his 25 overs and even a second new ball at 181-4 failed to dislodge the Taylor-Bairstow partnership.

– Outstanding –

“I think the bowlers were outstanding to bowl Pakistan out in a day and today was a better day to bat and obviously we wanted to get as close as we can and obviously now it’s to try and get past them,” said Bell, who had praise for Taylor.

“He (Taylor) is a smart and a busy cricketer and what we saw today that he swept and used his feet and was busy and at the back end of the day he had a good partnership with Jonny.”

Bell, who survived a confident caught behind appeal off Babar, was finally stumped off Shah. He hit two boundaries and a six during his three hour, 37 minute innings. Bell and Cook had steadied the innings with a 71-run stand for the second wicket.

England had added three runs to their lunch score of 87-1 when Cook fell to a soft dismissal as he pushed a Shah delivery straight into the hands of short leg fielder Azhar Ali. Cook hit four boundaries during his 119-ball knock.

England had hoped Root would supplement Bell but the fast-rising batsman fell to a loose shot off paceman Rahat Ali and was smartly snapped low to his right by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.

Resuming at 4-0, England lost Ali in the seventh over of the day when he miscued an aggressive shot off spinner Shoaib Malik and was caught in the slip by Younis Khan for 14.

Cook, who made an epic 263 in the drawn first Test in Abu Dhabi, looked in no trouble as he negotiated Pakistan’s pace-cum-spin attack with confidence and appeared set for another half-century before he fell.

Bell smashed Babar for a six early in the innings and ably supported his skipper, adding valuable runs for the second wicket partnership with Cook.

“Ajmal is an asset and as a professional he knows he needs some time, so he will play for (Worcestershire) county in England to gain his confidence back,” said Rasheed.
Sami, 34, was once regarded as one of the world’s fastest bowlers after he burst on to the scene in the early 2000s. But he last played for Pakistan on the tour of Sri Lanka in June 2012.
The 15-man squad also sees the return of batsman Umar Akmal who was left out of the Bangladesh tour for exhibiting a “poor attitude” during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in February and March.

There are two uncapped players, 19-year-old opening batsman Noman Anwar who has been in prolific form and all-rounder and former Pakistan U19 captain Imad Wasim.
Anwar was declared top batsman in the domestic Twenty20 event after scoring 270 runs at a strike-rate of 162.65 for Sialkot Stallions, including a match-winning 54-ball 97 in the final against Lahore Lions on Sunday.
Zimbabwe arrived early Tuesday to become the first Test playing team to tour Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009, which led to the suspension of all international cricket in the country.
The two Twenty20 matches will be played in Lahore on Friday and Sunday.
Squad: