FAISALABAD, Nov 24: England had come looking for a series-levelling victory in the second Test but were lucky to escape with a draw on Thursday after Inzamamul Haq entered record books with a record 24th Test century for Pakistan.

Inzamam, the Pakistan captain, dominated the first part of the final day by reaching his second century of the match. Seamers Shoaib Akhtar and Rana Navedul Hasan then took over as they mercilessly reduced England, who were set 285 to win, to 20 for four in the sixth over.

Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen prevented the innings from falling apart completely and later Geraint Jones played his part in the rescue act.

The stage for Pakistan’s brave bid for victory that would have wrapped up the series for them was set up by Inzamam who went past Javed Miandad’s national record of 23 Test hundreds.

He became only the fifth Pakistani to score a hundred in both innings of a Test after Hanif Mohammad, Miandad, Wajahatullah Wasti and Yasir Hameed.

The skipper’s early morning assault had helped the home side declare their second innings closed at 268-9 just as he had completed his 100.

Flintoff added 80 runs in an innings-saving fifth-wicket effort with Pietersen before becoming a Shoaib Akhtar victim, substitute Hasan Raza catching him in gully. In a patient stay at the wicket, he scored 56 runs which had nine boundaries.

Jones (30) and Ashley Giles (13) hung on till the end much to the frustration of the home attack in which both Shoaib Akhtar and Rana Naved shared six wickets. England were 164-6 in 48 overs when the match ended 16 overs early because of bad light.

The chase, for which 64 overs were available, was always going to be difficult. The lead seamers showed why as they begun firing on all cylinders.

For England it was an atrocious beginning with Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell all falling without scoring. Captain Michael Vaughan could barely improve on his first innings score and was trapped lbw for 9.

Shoaib Akhtar dealt the initial blow getting Trescothick off his third delivery shortly before lunch. In his first over after the break Rana Naved steamed in to send Strauss on his way.

Things got even worse for the Englishmen when Shoaib Akhtar had Bell caught behind by Kamran Akmal in the fifth over before Rana Naved removed Vaughan.

Rana Naved, who had two wickets in the first innings, made life more difficult for the visitors accounting for Pietersen (42) that broke a steady partnership. At tea England were 107-5.

Earlier, Pakistan owed it yet again to Inzamam. He picked up from where he had left off on Wednesday.

The champion batsman was a class act as he quickly got down to work. The loss of Rana Naved in only the second over of the morning did not seem to shake him one bit. He did what he does best — send the rival attack on a leather hunt.

The captain, 41 in his side’s overnight total of 183-6, belted nine boundaries and a six to Steve Harmison as he stepped up a gear in a bid to help Pakistan attain a lead of around 250. In the end they got more than what they had been hoping for.

Inzamam’s stand of 47 for the eighth wicket with Shoaib Akhtar was one of the reasons for Pakistan’s substantial lead and the declaration came just as he had struck Flintoff for a four.

It followed his remarkable innings of 109, a knock brought to an unceremonious end by a contentious run-out decision.

With Inzamam in full flow, the English attack appeared to run out of ideas with all the bowlers being hammered.

Seamer Matthew Hoggard however, had something to show, snapping up the wickets of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami after Harmison had accounted for Rana Naved.

With Pakistan still 1-0 up, both teams now head to Lahore for the final Test starting on Nov 29.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 462 (Inzamamul Haq 109, Shahid Afridi 92, Mohammad Yousuf 78).

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 446 (I.R. Bell 115, K.P. Pietersen 100, G.O. Jones 55; Shahid Afridi 4-95).

PAKISTAN (2nd Innings, overnight 183-6):

Shoaib Malik c Bell b Flintoff 26

Salman Butt lbw b Udal 50

Younis Khan lbw b Hoggard 27

Mohammad Yousuf b Flintoff 20

Inzamamul Haq not out 100

Shahid Afridi b Flintoff 0

Kamran Akmal c Jones b Harmison 9

Rana Navedul Hasan c Jones b Harmison 1

Shoaib Akhtar c Jones b Hoggard 14

Mohammad Sami lbw b Hoggard 5

Danish Kaneria not out 2

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, W-2, NB-3) 14

TOTAL (for nine decl, 93.1 overs) 268

FALL OF WKTS: 1-54, 2-104, 3-108, 4-164, 5-164, 6-183, 7-187, 8-234, 9-244.

BOWLING: Hoggard 16-1-50-3 (1nb); Flintoff 27.1-2-66-3 (2nb, 2w); Harmison 19-2-61-2; Giles 17-3-51-0; Udal 14-2-31-1.

ENGLAND (2nd innings) (target 285):

M.E. Trescothick b Shoaib Akhtar 0

A.J. Strauss b Rana Naved 0

M.P. Vaughan lbw b Rana Naved 9

I.R. Bell c Kamran b Shoaib Akhtar 0

K.P. Pietersen c sub b Rana Naved 42

A. Flintoff c sub b Shoaib Akhtar 56

G.O. Jones not out 30

A.F. Giles not out 13

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-8, NB-2) 14

TOTAL (for six wkts, 48 overs) 164

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-5, 3-10, 4-20, 5-100, 6-138.

BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 11-2-61-3 (1nb); Rana Navedul Hasan 12-3-30-3 (1nb); Mohammad Sami 6-1-18-0; Danish Kaneria 12-4-27-0; Shahid Afridi 7-2-16-0.

UMPIRES: D.B. Hair and S.J.A. Taufel (both Australia).

TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: R.S. Mahanama (Sri Lanka).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Inzamamul Haq.

FIRST TEST: Multan, Pakistan won by 22 runs.

THIRD TEST: Lahore, Nov 29-Dec 3.