After unravelling almost entirely through the course of the first day, Pakistan fought back on day two at Trent Bridge to bowl England out for 354. Mohammad Asif was the chief architect of their revival, bowling an unbroken spell from the Radcliffe Road end and running through England's lower order to pick up his seventh five-wicket haul in Test cricket in a display of patient and disciplined medium-pace swing bowling. England had resumed on 331 for 4 but once Paul Collingwood was removed for 82 in the sixth over of the morning the rest of the line-up quickly followed and six wickets tumbled for the addition of just 17 more runs.

The signs had not been promising for Pakistan first up, as Eoin Morgan was gifted a life when Imran Farhat put down a regulation chance off Mohammad Aamer at a wide first slip in the fifth over of the morning. But Asif trapped Collingwood with an inswinger in the next over to create an opening and give Pakistan the lift they so dearly needed. With the UDRS in use for this series and England well on top, Collingwood unsurprisingly chose to review Umpire Tony Hill's decision, but replays validated the original verdict and with that both teams had used up all their allocated referrals for the innings.

Four overs later Asif was at it again, pinging Morgan's back pad in front of off stump to reduce England to 344 for 6. With Asif wobbling the ball both ways at will and maintaining an impeccable off-stump line, and Umar Gul giving him good support from the other end, Matt Prior made a distinctly nervy return to international duty for England. But his downfall was no fault of his own, as Graeme Swann left him stranded mid-pitch after turning down a tricky third run much too late and he was easily run out for 6.

England's tail quickly followed him to the pavilion, and Asif found himself on a hat-trick after nailing both Swann and James Anderson in front of the stumps with deliveries that swung in unexpected directions. He found the edge of Steven Finn's bat with the hat-trick delivery, but the chance fell well short of the slips, who have been too deep throughout the game with an increasingly dry pitch already showing low bounce.

Umar Gul made a mess of Stuart Broad's stumps to bring the innings to a close in the very next over and complete a stunning collapse from England, with six wickets falling for just 23 runs through the course of the morning. Pakistan were left to face a tricky 30 minutes before lunch, and in overcast conditions England's attack will be confident of making early inroads.