Nine English wickets might suggest otherwise, but the hosts batted Pakistan into submission on day three of the first Test at Trent Bridge before bagging three scalps of their own.

After seeing the tourists' innings to a close on 182 after some late-order heroics from Umar Gul avoided the follow-on early on Saturday, Andrew Strauss and company proceeded to lose wickets at regular intervals but were never really in danger of throwing away a 172-run first-innings lead. Thanks largely to Matt Prior's third Test century, they elevated that advantage to 434 by the time Strauss' overly delayed declaration arrived late in the day.

In reply, with an awkward 30 minutes to survive, captain Salman Butt couldn't stave off his propensity to fiddle outside the off-stump and soon had his side one down with next to nothing on the board.

Azhar Ali came and went just as quickly, unable to negate Stuart Broad's inward movement off the seam as he was trapped lbw. The inexperienced Ali questioned umpire Tony Hill's decision, but television replays quickly sent the right-hander packing for a two-ball quacker.

Umar Amin followed suit in James Anderson's next over, also out lbw to more swing and seam, though he had managed to get off the mark with a single and wasn't afforded the use of the Umpire Decision Review System. Imran Farhat, tired of taking a consultant role from the non-striker's end, intimated that Amin should walk without question.

Things could have been even worse for Pakistan had Anderson's final shout of the day for lbw been followed through. Nightwatchman Mohammad Aamer, rooted in his crease and not stuck by umpire Asoka de Silva, seemed a near certainty for the UDRS' judgment but Strauss, maybe feeling a bit generous at the time, didn't call for the third official.

Fifteen for three remained, still a mammoth 420 runs short of a miracle win, and both Aamer and Farhat breathed a sigh of relief as de Silva toppled the stumps at the stroke of 19:00 local time.

Saturday's plaudits, though, belonged almost entirely to Prior, who shrugged off a lean streak with the bat and Craig Kieswetter's breathing down his neck with a chanceless ton.

Coming in at 72 for five in the wake of Andrew Strauss's duck, Alastair Cook's unlucky removal down the leg-side, Kevin Pietersen's pokey vigil, Jonathan Trott's departure to some startlingly low bounce and Paul Collingwood's iffy lbw dismissal, the steely wicketkeeper-batsman looked to afford Eoin Morgan due support, only to watch from the other side of the pitch as the first-innings centurion ran himself out at the non-striker's end 26 runs into their promising partnership.

With all the big guns back in the hut and the lead not sitting as pretty as Strauss and coach Andy Flower would have fancied, Prior - alongside would-be all-rounders Graeme Swann (28) and Stuart Broad (24) - ensured Pakistan, at the very least, would have to chase something in excess of 380.

Having watched from the pavilion for half the day as Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul wove their magic wands over England's batting ranks to reduce them to 98 for six, Prior cashed in when the back-up bowlers failed to replicate the pace trio's success. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was wayward at best, part-time trundler Umar Amin's line was consistently innocuous and occasional spinner Shoaib Malik only managed two wickets thanks to the lower order's quest for the fence.

Kaneria, in particular, was expensive and it was the two sixes hauled over long-on that allowed Prior to race into the 90s before relying on dogged No 11 Steven Finn to shepherd him to his three-figure feat. That he did, when more fodder outside the off-stump from Malik afforded Prior (102 not out) three on the cut to go to his ton and Strauss to wave the players in.

Once again, a five-day Test will surely not go the distance due to Pakistan, who are most incredible with the ball, being unable to match their bowling prowess with batting competence.

Shot of the Day
Prior's savagery of Kaneria over long-on and then long-on again en route to his third Test century were pretty much expected, but it was Umar Gul's third six off a mercilessly unhappy Steven Finn that took the cake. As if the preceding biggies hadn't shown the lanky Middlesex man not to bowl short angled into Gul's legs, the one cranked high, hard and with utter disdain into the crowd begging for a catch beyond the backward square-leg fence certainly did.

Delivery of the Day
One had a feeling Pakistan were going to crumble in that shaky 30 minutes they were forced to face before stumps. And they did. While Butt's departure was ultimately his own doing and Broad's removal of Ali asked a question or two of its validity, there was no doubt of Anderson's sinking of Amin. Pitched on a penny, placed on the perfect length in front of middle- and off-stump, it jagged back to perfection to trap the left-hander lbw.

Defining Moment of the Day
As belated as it might've seemed and at the mercy of Prior's three-figure hopes really, Strauss' declaration came at just the right moment. Half an hour was just enough time to set the skids under Pakistan and allow his fast bowlers a bit of a warm-up ahead of Sunday's last slog.

Jonhenry Wilson