Pakistan skipper Babar Azam joined teammates Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq Saturday in scoring a century –- the seventh of the match following England's earlier four -- as the first Test looked headed for a draw in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Azam cracked a boundary towards cover off opposition skipper Ben Stokes to reach his eighth century off 126 balls, studded with 13 boundaries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pakistan, at 411-3, are in a strong position to reach 458 and avoid the follow-on in reply to England's mammoth first-innings total of 657.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shafique, 89 overnight, was the first to three figures earlier with a sharp single off Joe Root, while Haq -- who started the session on 90 -- followed with a boundary off the same bowler.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They both now have three Test centuries and successive hundreds at the venue, having also reached three figures against Australia in March this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haq scored a ton in both innings against Australia, while Shafique scored a century in the second.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Haq was eventually out for 121, and Shafique 114.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Zak Crawley (122), Ben Duckett (107), Ollie Pope (108) and Harry Brook (153) scored centuries for England in their first innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n