Two dropped catches from Ian Bell and a century from Shoaib Malik left England frustrated on day one in the United Arab Emirates, as Pakistan closed on 287-4 after the first day of the test series.
Ali and Rashid both picked for England
Going as expected with Moeen Ali as an opening batsman ahead of Alex Hales, England sprung few surprises with their team selection. There was no place for James Taylor in the batting order, whilst Adil Rashid lined up as part of the bowling attack.
For the hosts, frontline spinner Yasir Shah was ruled out late on after suffering a back spasm in training, handing England an early boost.
Pakistan win the toss and lose just one early wicket
Pakistan skipper Misbah-Ul-Haq won the toss and made the simple choice of batting first, seeing his side lose an early wicket in the period following.
Shan Masood was the man to go, and will have been disappointed to have done so after losing his wicket to a fairly ordinary delivery from James Anderson.
A short ball that lacked either pace or height got high enough to strike Masood's grille, before smashing into the stumps. The wicket took Anderson to joint 10th on the list of all time leading wicket takers in test cricket, level with Wasim Akram.
Unfortunately for England, that was the highlight of the morning session. Mohammad Hafeez and Malik knuckled down, and slowly but surely increased the run total. It took until the over before tea for the visitors to take their second wicket of the day, but they certainly haad chances beforehand.
With Pakistan at 100/1, Stuart Broad thought he had dismissed Malik with the number three on just 40, as he edged to gully. However, replays showed Broad's front foot to be over the no ball line, and the decision was overturned.
Hafeez and Malik frustrate England
Even before that, there was another missed opportunity to take a wicket. With just seven overs played, Hafeez edged to Bell at second slip, but the batsman put a simple catch down.
These errors almost saw Pakistan make it to tea with just one wicket down, however Ben Stokes prevented that from happening, dismissing Hafeez for 98 by virtue of lbw.
Younis breaks a record
This saw Younis Khan come in, and he played out a solid 38 at one end, allowing Malik to continue his fine innings, whilst becoming Pakistan's leading run scorer in test cricket at the same time, as he passed 22 runs in his innings.
Captain Misbah was next in after Cook's catch helped Broad get Khan out, with Pakistan looking impressive at 247/3. That came just a few overs after Malik reached his century, deserved after a fine few hours from him.
Another dropped catch spoils late revival
There was time for Anderson to get Misbah out before the end of the day, Jos Buttler catching him behind for wicket number four of the day.
New man in Asad Shafiq just about survived until the close, after Bell dropped another routine catch in the slip cordon from Anderson's bowling.
The day though, was Pakistan's, as they finished on 287/4 with Malik still going strong on 124*.