Zimbabwe's day of toil was ushered in by their disciplined but mind-numbingly predictable lengths right from the first ball of the day - a Kyle Jarvis half-volley that Azhar punched down the ground. Their seamers, lacking the pace to bother the batsmen, focussed on tight lengths and hoping for an error. It was a plan that played into the hands of Hafeez, whose only moment of discomfort on the second day had come against a short ball.

Hafeez's loose-limbed methods are designed for batsman-friendly pitches such as this one. His ability to lean out and drive through the line - and when required, on the up - makes him an entertaining fair-weather batsman. He had a scare in the second over of the day when Chris Mpofu grassed a return catch in his follow through, and the chance seemed to increase his resolve for the ton.

His first boundary today came off a swivelled pull when Jarvis attempted the short ball, one of only three that Zimbabwe bowled in the first hour. He brought up his first away century off his 128th ball, pulling Brian Vitori through midwicket. After that the drives and glides began to flow more naturally, as Mpofu and Vitori paid the price for offering width.

While Hafeez played within himself, Azhar provided the sparkle. Azhar's batting technique is founded on stronger fundamentals than Hafeez's - a balanced trigger movement, decisive footwork both ways and soft hands. Azhar's slight shuffle across the stumps set him up well for pulling or whipping anything too straight, but his best strokes came through the off side, when he caressed Vitori and punched Mpofu through extra cover, off either foot.

The game seemed to stall in the lead-up to lunch, until Hafeez lazily spooned Hamilton Masakadza to midwicket. It was just the tonic Zimbabwe's spinners needed, and they began vigorously after the break.

Greg Lamb had a confident shout for a bat-pad catch against Younis turned down, before Ray Price convinced everyone except the umpire that he had Azhar plumb in front with a slider. The tight lines and sharp turn slowly began prey on the batsmen's minds and Younis nearly popped a return catch to Lamb.

Azhar responded to the pressure with an exasperated inside-out carve off Lamb, before jumping out to heave him over mid-on. Lamb persevered, and nabbed Azhar with a classic offspinner's dismissal, eliciting the loose drive with flight, and finding the inside edge with spin.

Price continued to work away on Younis, beating the outside edge a couple of times after pinning him on the crease. Younis finally found his footing with an extra-cover drive off Lamb, and then resorted to covering the line from the crease. It took Misbah's bloody-minded defence, interspersed with surprise moments of aggression to re-establish Pakistan's voice after lunch.

Zimbabwe dropped their third catch in three sessions, when Vusi Sibanda at midwicket spilled a straightforward offering from Misbah. Thereafter Misbah was immovable. With a forward stride that would have given Jason Gillespie an inferiority complex, he smothered nearly everything that was tossed in his half. He allowed the spinners string a series of dot balls before suddenly taking for a six and two fours off successive balls from Lamb. Those shots signalled the end of Zimbabwe's most intense phase, and the spin gambit gave way to the second new ball.

Barring one delivery from Jarvis that seamed away to take Younis' edge, the fast bowlers continued to struggle. Having stretched out miles to kill spin, Misbah hung back in the crease to capitalise on leg-stump offerings from the seamers. The pull shot earned him a couple of boundaries, while Younis remained circumspect. Zimbabwe conceded further ground by dropping him at short leg in the session's penultimate over, ensuring that Pakistan's pursuit for the first-innings lead stayed on track.