Ian Salisbury became England's unlikely hero as he reached 33 playing as nightwatchman.
It was a gutsy performance by the spinner who has not had any success with the ball so far.
Salisbury was at the crease for more than three hours as he and Graham Thorpe put on 103 runs for the fourth wicket.
The second Test is evenly poised though after England ended the third day on 282-8 - 34 runs adrift of Pakistan.
"He told me that before I went out and made me feel good because there have some great players batting at number four for England.
"I don't think I'll probably count as one of them.
"But it's a great honour for me - it's good to get your name higher up the order."
Graham Thorpe said he had been pleased with England's resiliance.
Good strides
He said: "A lot of people might have thought that we would turn up there and they would run through us.
"But we managed to dig our heels in, and that was a crucial part in getting confidence in the dressing room high again and get the momentum back in our favour.
"There's obviously a lot more cricket to go in this match. But we had second hit on this track, and I think we can be pleased with our performances.
"Last night we were disappointed to have lost two wickets at the end of the day and we are tonight as well because there was a possibility we might have sneaked in front - that probably shows we have made good strides just to be thinking like that."