52nd over: Pakistan 208-7 (Jamal 52, Shaheen 9) Ollie Pope has dropped Jamal. He hooked Carse high towards deep square-leg, but Pope misjudged the flight of the ball and barely got a touch on it. That’s an unusually sloppy effort for a fielder of his quality.

Shaheen mishits a hoick that lands just in front of the man running back from square leg. Pakistan are swinging at everything now.

51st over: Pakistan 202-7 (Jamal 50, Shaheen 5) Jamal works Leach for a single to reach a fine half-century, his second in only four Test appearances. Not bad for a No8 – or a No9, as he was when he smashed 82 against Australia in January.

50th over: Pakistan 200-7 (Jamal 49, Shaheen 4) Carse changes ends and is hooked for four by Jamal, a stylish and courageous shot. Shaheen thumps another boundary down the ground to get off the mark and bring up the 200.

“I have been thinking about the lack of crowds for matches in Pakistan,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Why is that a surprise? The team does not have a Waqar or a Wasim to send shivers down the spines of opposition batsmen. Nor does it have a Miandad or a Zaheer Abbas or an Inzamam. No one to spin the ball like Abdul Qadir. Which paying public, in a country that lacks a progressive vision and besieged by inflation and corruption, would come to a ground to watch their listless team lose regularly? Pakistan cricket needs a complete reset.”

With the caveat that I don’t know what I’m talking about, it feels more complicated than that. Pakistan still have some exhilarating and/or stylish cricketers: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Babar Azam in particular. Salman Agha and Aamer Jamal look like cricketers of substance; Mohammad Rizwan is full of charisma. But I agree they are in a miserable place right now. If they stick with Jason Gillespie, a fine coach and even better human being, they’ll be okay.

49th over: Pakistan 191-7 (Jamal 44, Shaheen 0) Leach has had a really good game on his return. He took some tap in the first innings, especially from Salman Agha, but he has taken five important wickets.

WICKET! Pakistan 191-7 (Salman LBW b Leach 63)

48th over: Pakistan 189-6 (Salman 61, Jamal 44) Woakes has only taken a couple of wickets in this game but he’s done more than enough to stay in the conversation for next year’s Ashes. Whether he’ll be able to go again in the second Test on Tuesday is another matter.

A gentle bouncer from Woakes is pulled for four, well in front of square, by Jamal. The difference between that and Carse’s bouncers was stark – not just the pace but also the angle Carse bowls, always coming in towards the right-hander.

Jamal tries to pull again later in the over but is too early on the shot and toe-ends it into the off side. This is an extended session, two and a half hours, so it’s time for a drinks break. Pakistan have had an excellent first hour 54 minutes.

“I’m off to watch the Asian Dragon Boat Championships this pm,” writes Andrew Benton, “but will England have done the business by the time I get back this eve? I’ve a feeling that Salman and Jamal will be in for a long session.”

I thought I was a pessimist but some of today’s emails are making me feel like Dale Cooper (the good one).

47th over: Pakistan 185-6 (Salman 61, Jamal 40) Carse goes around the wicket to harass Jamal, who gloves an attempted hook over Smith’s head for a single. This is good stuff from Carse, really hostile on what remains a lifeless pitch.

Salman, who looks more comfortable against Carse, takes the rest of the over. England have bowled to a couple of fine No7s in recent weeks: first Kamindu Mendis and now Salman Agha.

46th over: Pakistan 183-6 (Salman 60, Jamal 39) Woakes changes ends to replace Atkinson. I’d have been tempted to go to Jack Leach but what the hell do I know. Jamal pulls for four to bring up the century partnership from only 121 balls.

You’re thinking it, aren’t you? Relax, one wicket will bring three.

45th over: Pakistan 178-6 (Salman 59, Jamal 35) Jamal is okay to continue. He knows what’s coming because England have a 2/7 field, and one of the two is a fly slip.

Carse keeps him waiting by bowling a length delivery, to which Jamal gets solidly in line. A bouncer goes over his shoulder and a shortish delivery is steered to the right of the fly slip for a couple.

Pakistan need 89 runs to make England bat again.

44.2 overs: Pakistan 174-6 (Salman 59, Jamal 33) Ouch. Jamal turns his back on a bouncer from Carse that follows him and clatters into the back of the helmet. He kisses his helmet and seems okay, but he’ll need a concussion test.

44th over: Pakistan 174-6 (Salman 59, Jamal 31) Salman and Jamal look pretty comfortable. Let’s take the positives: one last bit of hard yakka will make England appreciate this victory even more. That spell yesterday evening, when Pakistan were still a bit shell-shocked, was pivotal to the (probable) result of this game. Had England wasted the new ball they might be facing a bore draw.

43rd over: Pakistan 170-6 (Salman 56, Jamal 30) Brydon Carse comes on for Woakes and immediately inconveniences Jamal with a sharp lifter. Jamal played it well but looked slightly startled by how much life Carse had managed to extract from the wicket. He’s had a fine debut and, as Athers says on Sky, was the pick of the England attack yesterday.

“As a long standing England supporter still scarred by Adelaide, is there a chance the final record to fall on this ground is for England to be the first team to still lose after scoring such a monumental first innings…” says Tom van der Gucht. “If these guys hang around and get a lead of more than a 100 then England panic falling into a massive collapse where everyone tries tk Bazball on acid their way out of it – throwing wickets away to wild yahoos in a desperate hope of wellying their way out of trouble. I need to lie down.”

I was going to lightly edit your email but I prefer the breathless panic of the original.

42nd over: Pakistan 169-6 (Salman 55, Jamal 30) Salman touches Atkinson to fine leg to reach a really good half-century. Chuck in his first-innings hundred and he has scored 156 runs without being dismissed.

The TV commentators are discussing Pakistan’s squad for the second Test. I can’t see wholesale changes – that’s not how Jason Gillespie works – but there’s a case for asking Babar Azam whether he needs a break to refresh mentally. Graham Gooch did that in 1989 and within a year he was biffing 333.

41st over: Pakistan 162-6 (Salman 48, Jamal 30) Still no real demons in the pitch, so England might have to go to the well to break this partnership. Salman almost saves them the bother when he mishits a pull off Woakes. The ball teases the two short midwickets before landing safely.

“Can I ask: what’s the reasons for the poor crowds?” says Johnny. “I have just seen a drone shot of the ground which shows it is basically oon the edge of a city, not some out-of-town stadium. Is it a pricing issue, loss of interest, or a reflection on the nation’s feelings of this current side? Genuine question, as I don’t think I have ever seen a Test with such an empty stadium.”

You can ask but I’m not sure I have an answer. It’s definitely not a pricing issue, and I fear this kind of crowd is quite normal for a Test in Pakistan these days. During one of the intervals yesterday, Sky showed highlights of Pakistan’s epic win over England on this ground in 2005-06; you couldn’t fail to notice how vibrant the crowd was then.

40th over: Pakistan 161-6 (Salman 47, Jamal 30) Salman guides Atkinson between keeper and gully for four. England don’t have any slips because, well, you’ve seen the pitch haven’t you.

This has been an impressive, proud partnership because it would have been very easy to slog the ball up in the air and get the nightmare over and done with.

39th over: Pakistan 154-6 (Salman 42, Jamal 30) Chris Woakes starts with a short mid-off and short mid-on for Jamal. He flicks a couple of runs to fine leg and defends the rest of the over. A solid start for Pakistan.

38th over: Pakistan 154-6 (Salman 42, Jamal 28) Jamal chips Atkinson not far wide of Carse, one of two short midwickets. England have been very imaginative in the field. That aside, a quiet first over.

In other news, here’s the Test Match Special overseas link.

England only need three wickets today. Abrar Ahmed is still in hospital with a fever, which is a little worrying, so he won’t bat.

Gus Atkinson is going to open the bowling to Salman Ali Agha.

Chris Woakes speaks to Sky Sports

We spent a lot of time in the field and it takes it out of you, so we have to thank the batters for giving us a rest. They put on a masterclass.

It’s been a really good pitch and you’d expect guys to score runs, but the levels of fitness and concentration… it’s an incredible achievement.

[On Harry Brook] You could see incredible talent but you still need to prove it at international level. You can never say, flat out, ‘this kid’s gonna be a star’. You need to put in the hard work to go with that talent and he’s done that.

In these conditions you really want to make the first few overs count, especially when they’ve been out in the field for so long, and thankfully I managed to find a crack with that first delivery. But you do have in the back of your mind: ‘This is the moment’ and you want to put a marker down.

You have to refuel all the time. You literally can’t get enough in. And even though you’re constantly taking on fluids, you hardly ever need to go to the toilet which shows how much you lose.

You don’t want to bowl on pitches like this too often but I think we’ve done a great job as a unit. We’ll keep coming today, however long it takes.

And you thought Ben Stokes’ England were pushing the envelope

This is how good Harry Brook is. Joe Root made his highest Test score, becoming England’s leading runscorer in the process, and he was still partially overshadowed.

Preamble