Nasser Hussain demonstrated his return to form in Karachi when he led England's fightback against Pakistan following the controversial dismissal of Alec Stewart.

Faced with a daunting target of 305 for victory, the England captain arrived at the crease just four balls into the innings after opener Stewart was given out caught behind to Wasim Akram.

Stewart remained at the crease for a few seconds then walked off in dismay when umpire Riazuddin raised his finger to confirm his opinion that the bat had brushed the ball on the way though to the wicketkeeper.

The early upset unsettled fellow opener Marcus Trescothick and England found themselves in the mire three overs later at 13 for two when the young Somerset batsmen pulled to mid-wicket and was caught by Mushtaq Ahmed.

A steady hand was provided by Hussain who spent an agonising summer in search of runs and he stablised the innings with an unbeaten 60, forging a crucial 114-run partnership with Graeme Hick which guided the tourists to 144 for three at the halfway stage of their reply.

Not only was he back in form but Hussain was also in his element as he led from the front with some positive strokeplay which saw his half century come up in 59 balls, including eight boundaries.

The sizzling third wicket partnership came to an end when Hick fell to Abdur Razzaq for 56 caught behind.

Earlier, Razzaq had blasted a 40-ball 75 to give Pakistan a massive total despite the efforts of Mark Ealham and Andy Caddick who restricted Pakistan to just 10 runs in five overs after reaching 97 for three in 19 overs.

Razzaq's explosive strokeplay in the final 10 overs, putting on 106 as Pakistan lost six wickets, added another 40 runs to the anticipated final total to reduce England's chances of going one up in the three match series.

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