So welcome to the House of Saud. England crossed the threshold on Friday in the hope of cementing a narrow lead and found themselves on the brink of emphatic defeat after Saud Shakeel transformed the game in almost every way. Where there was chaos he brought calm, when his team were struggling he brought success, and his spectacularly unspectacular century put England in a situation from which they seemed unable to escape.

Saud's 134, achieved largely through partnerships with England's spin bowling nemesis Noman Ali and Sajid Khan in late innings, helped Pakistan to a first innings total of 344 and a lead of 77. They finished with nine overs to spare Before day the tourists had stumbled through stumps to 24 for three, still 53 behind, with Noman and Sajid again their undoing.

The 29-year-old Saud fought for most of the day, providing the blueprint for success on this surface. It was impossible for England to compete against Sajid, Noman and a new ball. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were both trapped with England's score at 15, the former after a successful review – referee Sharfuddoula mysteriously refused to give in to Pakistan's histrionic, Sajid-conducted appeal – and the latter after an unsuccessful and, under the circumstances pretty desperate. Noman picked up a second wicket in the penultimate over of the day after the deeply out-of-form Ollie Pope was on the verge of slipping after scoring just one.

Saud had already proven he was an excellent player of spin – before this innings he had averaged 87.8 in Tests against slow bowling and 100 against offspin, compared to 33.6 against seam and 53 overall – and was apparently with Blessed with infinite patience, conditions that others thought impossible to handle were catnip for him. Most of his runs consisted of one-off runs, maneuvering gently into gaps and stroking the forefoot with gentle hands. On 26, he offered something of a chance by pushing Bashir towards the wicketkeeper, although he had enough contact to deflect the ball beyond the reach of Jamie Smith's gloves. That was the closest he came to dismissal until he survived a review for lbw on the umpire's advice, 86 runs and a ball less than 59 overs later.

He made 53 runs with Shan Masood on the first and second days, followed by a lively stand of 52 off 85 balls with Mohammad Rizwan. These were inconveniences for England, but after Rehan Ahmed took three quick wickets just before lunch it seemed little more than that. From 151 for four, Pakistan had fallen to 177 for seven, still 90 points behind, when Noman was eliminated at number 9.

The next session, shortened by half an hour as part of the restructuring that included a one-hour break for Friday prayers, was the first in the game to be completely dominated by the bat. Noman's Test history is not exactly littered with impressive scores, but he had given a clear indication of his ability to build good partnerships in late innings in Multan last week when he and Jamal scored 49 for the ninth wicket in Pakistan's first innings. Here he and Saud added 88 and turned the game on its head.

One thing England never realized during their first innings as it ended two balls before the 69th minute^Th In the end, the question was whether their top class would find it easier to compete against a tired, aging ball. That was not a question that Pakistan left unanswered and with the bowlers increasingly finding it difficult to find a sharp turn or an unpredictable release, England shifted their focus from chasing wickets to securing their first innings advantage – and that was that Moment when the opponents were really successful. As they preoccupied themselves with pushing boundaries, they made it easy for Pakistan to score individual goals, leaving many inviting gaps just a gentle nudge away, and both Noman and Saud proved to be impeccable gentle nudges.

Noman scored a few boundaries, once bowling Rehan six times over long-on, but the majority of their runs consisted of real running. When Saud Bashir hit 87 through midwicket for four^Th over, shortly after the same bowler, now working with a new ball, finally got rid of Noman, it was his first boundary for 108 deliveries and the start of a new phase in his innings.

Noman fell in the last over before tea, which Pakistan reached with two wickets in hand and the score level. This brought out Sajid, who for all his qualities is not a natural talent. Ever the showman, the 31-year-old is much more of a bludgeoning type and he blasted his ninth ball six times over midwicket to start a remarkable spell in which 43 runs were scored from three overs and England's spirit was almost visible was broken. Moments earlier, Harry Brook had actually cartwheeled as he returned to the pitch after a quick visit to the dressing room, but suddenly this was a team of slumped shoulders and slumped heads.

Saud eventually missed Atkinson's mistake of shortening midwicket and Zahid Mahmood's innings lasted just one ball. But conceding painful runs in the late innings has been a hallmark of this series for England and it could be decided before they break the habit. Of Pakistan's eight highest partnerships in this series, one has been for the seventh wicket, one for the eighth and now three for the ninth, and England's chances diminish if they fail towards the end.