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Nick Knight and Graham Thorpe successfully overcame doubts about form and fitness to rescue England from a disastrous start to yesterday's first day/night match against Pakistan A at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Replying to Pakistan's 219, England slumped to 22 for two, with Alec Stewart and Graeme Hick both falling to left-arm paceman Kabir Khan to put the tourists in danger of a morale-damaging defeat ahead of next week's Sharjah tournament.

But Knight and Thorpe, both of whom had to pass fitness tests to secure their places on the trip following recent injuries, silenced any doubts about their fitness and form to establish a 95-run partnership off 119 balls.

Their stand, a mixture of flamboyant strokeplay and intelligent running between the wickets, helped England to reach 117 for three at the halfway stage of their innings and put them firmly on course to secure victory.

England had begun brightly, with Stewart hitting former Surrey team-mate Waqar Younis for successive boundaries to carry on from his impressive 67 in England's opening warm-up match against Lahore Gymkhana on Thursday.

Stewart, though, fell in the second over, mis-timing a hook off Kabir for Waqar to take a comfortable catch at mid-on, and Hick was caught behind, attempting a cut off the same bowler.

But Knight responded to the crisis with a series of attacking drives and had hit 51 off 71 balls when he charged down the wicket to Mushtaq Ahmed and was stumped by wicketkeeper Humayun Farhatpulls to leave Thorpe unbeaten on 42.

Lancashire's Andrew Flintoff had impressed during Pakistan's innings by claiming three for 19 from seven accurate overs.