Pakistan's bid for a victory inside three days over England in the first test was thwarted by an unbeaten 125-run stand between Jos Buttler and debutant Dom Bess at Lord's on Saturday.

Trailing by 179 runs after the first innings, England slumped to 110-6 and Pakistan had a session to finish off the home side with two days to spare.

Buttler (66 not out), a limited-overs specialist, and Bess (55 not out), a 20-year-old spinner, displayed the kind of diligence and discipline that the top order lacked to earn England a 56-run lead by the close of play on a beautiful day in northwest London. England was 235-6 at stumps.

Pakistan is still the big favourite to go 1-0 ahead in the two-test series, but the tourists at least will have to work for the victory.

England has been prone to batting implosions in recent years and another arrived on a warm afternoon at Lord's, sparked by a superb catch from wicketkeeper and captain Sarfraz Ahmed to remove Malan.

Two balls later, Amir shaped a ball through the gate as Bairstow was beaten all ends up.

Stokes' dismissal was tame it was virtually catching practice for substitute fielder Fakhar Zaman and worse was to come when Abbas, who had earlier removed Alastair Cook for 1, sent down a good length ball that nipped back and struck Root on the knee roll.

Earlier, Pakistan added 13 runs before being bowled out for 363, establishing a first-innings lead of 179.

Mohammed Abbas was the last man dismissed, when he gloved a delivery from Mark Wood to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for 5. Mohammad Amir was left stranded on 24 not out.

Middle order batsman and the highest scorer of the innings, Babar Azam, who had left the field after being injured on Friday, could not come out to bat as he was ruled out of the entire series with a fracture.

Pakistan team's Physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon said that he had fractured his left forearm, just above the wrist, and would be unable to play for four to six weeks.

Azam's 68-run innings, nevertheless, helped Pakistan bring the home side under pressure on day two of the match while opened Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and spinner Shadab Khan also scored half-centuries.

Unlike the first two days, the sun was out on day three at Lord's as the England openers made their way on to the pitch with almost the entire day's play to look forward to.

Former Pakistan pacer Waqar Younis rang the five-minute bell on day three, a practice introduced in 2007 to signify the start of the play.

Earlier, England collapsed for only 184 on day one, with both Hassan Ali and Mohammad Abbas taking four wickets each. Only Alastair Cook was able to make a substantial contribution of 70 for his team.