DUBAI-- England's opening batsmen safely negotiated the final hour's play to close the third day of the third test with Pakistan on 36 without loss, chasing 324 to win, after Azhar Ali's mammoth innings of 157 put the hosts in a dominant position in Dubai.
Pakistan should have had an early breakthrough as Alastair Cook edged a simple chance off the bowling of Umar Gul but opening batsman Taufeeq Umar put it down at third slip.
Andrew Strauss also had a hairy moment - a review of the bowling off Mohammed Hafeez saw the ball strike the bat and pad simultaneously but the impact was outside the line and Simon Taufel's original not out call remained.
Ali's stay at the crease - he faced 424 balls over 533 minutes for his 157 runs - was finally ended as he turned a Graeme Swann delivery straight to Cook at short leg, who took a good catch just above the earth. Those in the sparse crowd rose to applaud his knock - his highest in first-class cricket. Pakistan finished with 365.
If England are to survive a whitewash, which would be Pakistan's first against them, they will have to make the second-highest total to win a test match in their history - only the 332 they scored in 1928 to beat Australia in Melbourne would be better.
Pakistan are chasing a record of their own - no team has scored fewer than 100 in their first innings and won a test in more than 100 years, not since England toppled South Africa in 1907 after posting 76 in their opening knock.
Earlier in the day, Younus Khan added 12 to his overnight score to reach 127 before Stuart Broad got him leg before to end his partnership of 216 with Ali.
It was the second-highest recorded in tests in the United Arab Emirates after the 242 made by the South African pair of Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis against Pakistan in Nov. 2010.
Ali said patience had paid off for him in his innings.
"The wicket was slow so that's why I opted for this (slow pace). I had to be patient to get runs here. You can't just play all the shots. You had to concentrate on one or two shots and when it comes, you put it away. So that's what I concentrated on. I really enjoyed it in the end as batting for long gives you pleasure.
"We're 100 percent confident but, obviously, we have to get 10 wickets," he added. "We can't just sit back and relax. You never know as one good partnership could take the game away from us."
Swann said Strauss and Cook had set England up well for the fourth day.
"It could have been a very tricky period for the openers but they have calmed the storm nicely and set us up for what will, hopefully, be a good chase tomorrow," he said.
"On current form, it's an absolute mountain to climb but...I think we're due a score. I think our batsmen have got a point to prove, not just to themselves but you guys as well. I'm forever the optimist and I think a couple of them are going to go out and wow everyone tomorrow."
