The task is made more complicated by a rib injury to their captain who may not be able to bat until number seven.
Something strange has already happened at Headingley, Mohammad Sami smiled.
Pakistan's once-great hope has spent this series performing an impression of a petulant adolescent, fluctuating between misery and frustration.
But the fourth day at Headingley reminded us why so much was expected of him and why a master talent-spotter like Imran Khan believes he has ability.
Indeed, it can be no coincidence that Sami's revival came hand in glove with a step up in speed.
Imran has been advocating that one possible solution to Pakistan's bowling woes is to use Sami for shock and awe, a flat-out wicket-taker.
Why this advice has been diligently ignored has been something of a mystery? Sami has trotted in and bowled well within himself.
The result of this attempt at control has been some of the most erratic Test bowling ever witnessed. The Pakistan camp has maintained that the problem with Sami has been one of confidence.
All that changed in England's second innings. It might have been the desperation of the crisis in his career?
It could have been the energy of Pakistan's stand-in captain Younis Khan?
Yet something had already snapped in Sami's head by the time he batted. Sami, whose solitary Test hundred could have been dedicated to the Matthew Hoggard textbook of batsmanship, emerged with a portfolio of positive strokes.
That mindset was carried into his bowling as he charged in and worried England with his pace, bounce, and movement.
The wickets of Strauss and Bell confirmed that Sami in aggressive mode is the Sami required at international level. His were the incisions that opened up England.
Kaneria is the other senior bowler who had a better day. His relative failure has been hard to explain. He can turn the bowl both ways, he is accurate, and he keeps going. One theory is that he tries too many variations.
Another is that he doesn't have a flipper or a top-spinner, the ball that hurries on to the batsman. Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed both bowled it. Shane Warne's lack of a googly has meant that his variation has become the ball that hurries straight on, so much so that he has several types. It is a delivery that Kaneria must acquire and quickly.
You suspect, though, that Kaneria does acquire quickly. It took only one sighting of Shoaib Akhtar's chicken celebration for Kaneria to perform a perfect imitation when he tricked Kevin Pietersen with a beautiful googly. This chicken business with Pietersen is not finished yet.
But pick of the bowlers, certainly in terms of statistics, was Shahid Nazir.
His success fully deserved after persistent misfortune in England's first innings. Despite being the slowest of Pakistan's pacemen he troubled England with his ability to swing the ball both ways and keep it on a troubling full-length.
He also twice repaid his stand-in captain's intuition. First when he replaced Sami to pick up two wickets in an over, and then dismissing Hoggard almost immediately after taking the new ball.
A third piece of timing was unrelated to Shahid. Younis brought in mid-off to tempt and perhaps scoop up Harmison's lofted drive. It was a double miracle when Imran Farhat nonchalantly picked the cherry above his head.
This was everything Pakistan and their locum captain Younis Khan deserved. It had been their best day of the whole series in the field, certainly one that deserved a few more chicken celebrations.