Asked about the state of the game, Ahmed said: “It’s still level, isn’t it?”

The 20-year-old, who finished with 4-66 in his first Test since February, added: “As a batting group having three down is never part of the plan.

“At one stage it looked like we could’ve got them just before they got a lead but it’s cricket, things happen quickly.”

England were ground down by Shakeel in the afternoon session, the left-hander taking advantage of some questionable tactics from the visitors.

The tourists spread the field, alleviating pressure on Shakeel, who accepted the singles on offer. He took 70 singles in his first 100 runs, a record in the era such data has been recorded.

England also ignored the pace of Gus Atkinson until they had bowled 15 overs with the second new ball and it was Atkinson who eventually removed Shakeel. Captain Ben Stokes did not bowl himself at all.

The struggle to remove Noman and Sajid also continued a poor record against tailenders during Stokes’ time as captain.

“Saud Shakeel batted very well,” said Ahmed. “He batted time and stuck to his method.

“When Saud Shakeel took the singles, they weren’t the balls we wanted to bowl. If we bowled our best ball every time, we wouldn’t go for singles. We tried to stop his scoring options.”

Shakeel made his fourth Test century and said taking singles is his “strength”.

He added: “When you score a hundred you are really pleased. At the same time we got a good, handsome lead, so that is the most satisfying thing.

“It’s evenly poised. We have the slight upper hand but we have to see what happens tomorrow. We still have to bowl well and hopefully won’t have a big target.”