Pakistan made an excellent response to England's brilliant 657, with openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq showing their class as they put on an excellent unbeaten partnership worth 181 on a lifeless Rawalpindi pitch.
After a record-breaking first day which saw them rack up a mammoth 506-4, England picked up where they left off on day two with Ben Stokes advancing down the wicket and smashing his first ball of the day from Naseem Shah back over the bowler's head for six.
However, Stokes was bowled by Naseem later in the over for an 18-ball 41, missing out on the opportunity to break Misbah-ul-Haq's record for the fastest Test fifty. Harry Brook, however, continued to plunder runs with ease on his way to a stunning 153 in just his second Test innings.
Will Jacks impressed with a quick-fire 30 on debut, while Ollie Robinson chipped in with a useful 37 as the pair shared a 65-run partnership for the eighth wicket. England were eventually dismissed for 657, having scored at over a run a ball throughout their innings.
In response, Pakistan's openers also took advantage of an incredibly flat pitch, with Shafique scoring a brilliant 89 and Imam adding 90. Much like Pakistan, England struggled to make real inroads with the ball as the hosts reached 181-0 at the close of play.
Stokes remained proactive with his captaincy, constantly tinkering with the field and rotating his bowlers but it was hard work for England who will struggle to take the 20 wickets they need to win.
Here are five talking points...
England's history makers
England broke a multitude of records as they scored 657 in their first innings, but the most impressive of the lot was the fact they scored at a run rate of 6.50. That means they are the first team to ever score at more than a run a ball in the first innings of a Test match, a record which perfectly encapsulates the way Stokes and McCullum want them to play.
Although it was on a very flat pitch, England will be greatly encouraged by the fact Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Brook were their century-makers and there was no reliance on Joe Root to score the bulk of the runs as there has been in recent years.
Who would have thought this time last year we would see England surpass 650 with every member of the top six bar Root and Stokes scoring hundreds? It just goes to show what a remarkable impact Stokes and McCullum have made.
Brook a star in the making
When Mirror Sport spoke to Jos Buttler ahead of last year's Ashes, he named Brook as a player he felt had a "really exciting future" after a breakout summer. Since then, Brook has established himself as a regular in England's T20 side, helping them win the World Cup last month.
He has also earned Test match honours and scored what will surely be the first of many hundreds in Rawalpindi. In just his second Test innings, Brook reached three figures off just 80 balls to make the third-fastest hundred by an Englishman and also twice broke the record for the most runs scored in a single over by an Englishman.
The 23-year-old is viewed as a potentially generational talent by England across all three formats and his 153 off 116 balls further underlines his ability. Brook is a real star in the making for England, who will be hoping he can become a lynchpin in their batting line-up for many years to come.
As former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote on Twitter : "I knew he was good but I didn't realise how good".
Sahfique and Imam show their class
After a chastening experience in the field, Pakistan's openers were incredibly impressive in their response to England's record-breaking total. Shafique has made an outstanding start to Test cricket, scoring 825 runs at 75.00 in eight games so far.
Imam, meanwhile, has a frankly ridiculous record in Rawalpindi having now scored 358 runs in three innings while only getting dismissed once. They played a more sedate brand of Test cricket to England, but were not afraid to take the attack to England's bowlers with both players striking sixes.
Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara was full of praise for Shafique and Imam, telling Sky Sports: "To be able to do this with conviction, with commitment, with positive stroke-play - it's different to how England played it, but according to how Pakistan planned it. It all went very well for the openers and Pakistan will be pretty happy."
England missing Foakes
While Pope did an admirable job filling in for first-choice wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who is missing this Test through illness, he did miss a couple of difficult half-chances which could have broken Pakistan's opening partnership.
He fumbled a tough chance in the seventh over off Jack Leach when the ball appeared to catch Imam's edge and he also missed an opportunity for a stumping, failing to take the ball cleanly. Foakes is arguably the best gloveman in the world right now and on a pitch where chances are difficult to come by, having him behind the stumps instead of Pope could have proved vital.
"That stumping incident shows the importance of having a specialist wicketkeeper in Test match cricket," former England spinner Alex Hartley told BBC Test Match Special. "You can get away with a batting all-rounder in one-day and especially T20 cricket.
"Ollie Pope is a keeper but he does not do it as often. Ben Foakes will train day in, day out, taking thousands of catches. Pope will practice of course but his focus is more on his batting."
A lifeless pitch
The surface in Rawalpindi is incredibly flat and as a result it seems incredibly unlikely that either side will be able to force a result. Flat pitches were a feature of Australia's tour of Pakistan in March, but even PCB chairman Ramiz Raja was highly critical of this one.
"[I'm] not happy at all," he told BBC Test Match Special. "If you want to nail England, for example, on a spinning track then we've got to prepare a drop-in pitch that turns from ball number one, rather than having this hodgepodge where you get a half-baked pitch which is neither quick nor spins a lot."
Pakistan legend Waqar Younis, meanwhile, suggested the reason pitches in Pakistan are so poor is because they were neglected while safety concerns forced them to play their international games in the UAE for around a decade.
"In our days pitches had a lot more carry and bounce and those 10 years when we were absent from cricket and had to play in the UAE, no-one took care of pitches back home," he said. "The stadiums need renovation and the pitches need to be relayed perhaps."
