Say what you like about the umpire decision review system (and many do), it certainly moves the game on these days. Wickets tumbled here, 16 of them, and the lbw count rose ever higher like a stock exchange bull market: a further nine on Friday to go with the 26 already accumulated to the umpires' fickle finger in the first two Tests. The third umpire was the busiest man in the ground so thick and fast did appeals and reviews come: at this rate UDRS is a shoo-in for man of the series.

By the close, England held an advantage but, at 104 for six in response to Pakistan's 99 all out, it was a most tenuous one on a first day that appeared to get ever more frenetic as it wore on and which, had it been a county match, would have had the pitch inspector scurrying down the motorway.

When Misbah-ul-Haq made the decision to bat first on a pitch said to be drier than the last one here on which England were dismissed cheaply on the first day, he would not have foreseen the movement and occasional bounce that Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson managed for England. By lunch, his team were floundering at 57 for seven and Broad, bowling with what is now becoming habitual brilliance, had come perilously close to becoming the first Englishman since SF Barnes almost a century ago to take five wickets before lunch on the opening day of a Test. An hour and a quarter later, Anderson cleaned out Umar Gul and Pakistan were all out, the fourth time in the past 12 innings England have dismissed them in double figures, Broad taking four for 36, Anderson, who began the slide in the first over, three for 35, and Monty Panesar two for 25.

Little more than a year ago, in Melbourne, Australia were dismissed for 98 by England, who then completed one of the most one-sided opening days to any Test by scoring 157 without loss by the close. Halcyon days. Only when Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen were adding 57 for the third wicket, the captain battling away and Pietersen gradually starting to find his feet after a shaky start, did batting appear anything less than mental torture. But Pietersen, having made 32, with four good boundaries, became another victim of UDRS, much to his chagrin, and one had to sympathise: the original decision by Simon Taufel, one of the most respected of international umpires, could have been nothing more than guesswork, backed up on "umpires' call" by the slenderest predicted contact with the top of leg stump. Pietersen stomped off.

Around this partnership it was mayhem once again. Alastair Cook, in what was a retro-dismissal, hung his bat out to Gul and was well caught behind, and Jonathan Trott, looking to work the same bowler in habitual fashion to leg, was deemed lbw. He chose not to review it, presumably on the advice of Strauss, and had he done so would have been reprieved. England needed his unflappable steadiness. Pietersen's dismissal brought in Ian Bell, who, uncertain whether to stick or twist, chipped one aerial boundary down the ground in a 28-ball stay, and was then beaten by a Saeed Ajmal doosra, dragged his back leg and was stumped – just – by a rebound from the gloves of Adnan Akmal as he tried to scrabble it back.

England had decided to back the side that lost in Abu Dhabi, which meant Eoin Morgan retaining his place and, despite an ever-increasing crouch that would make Gilbert Jessop look like Graham Gooch, he looked to be playing more naturally than during his desperate efforts of the first two Tests. One sweet natural swing of the bat deposited Ajmal over the long-on boundary for six, and for a brief moment it appeared as if the shackles had been broken. Then, on the back foot, he tried to whip Abdur Rehman's left-arm spin through square leg, was struck on the pads, and on review by Pakistan, Taufel was shown to be in error once more. When Matt Prior was bowled by Rehman, maybe looking for the arm ball into his pads, England were still a run adrift and six down.

Through it all, Strauss had played bravely, carrying on his better play in Abu Dhabi. He stayed on the back foot unless he could get properly forward, used his bat, kept his pad out of the way, seemed to read the doosra and accumulated his runs. Had Pakistan been more alert with their reviews, he would have gone lbw as he attempted to sweep Rehman when 35, another Taufel mistake. Thus far Strauss has batted 120 balls for his unbeaten 41 with four boundaries.

In contrast, the England bowling was magnificent once again. As Broad and Anderson cut their swathe through the early Pakistan batting in the morning, there were thoughts that Steve Finn, rather than Panesar or indeed Graeme Swann, might have been the better selectorial option. But where there is seam movement, there is often spin as well, and from the off Panesar found some turn, sufficient to convince them that their balance was a sound one. Once again it was to the left-armer that Strauss had turned, looking to take the ball away from the right-handers and, as he managed twice, bringing lbw into play (of course). Only when the left-handed Rehman came to the crease did Strauss turn to his premier spinner. His second delivery was slogged straight into the air, a wicket maiden was the result, and Swann never bowled another ball. Asad Shafiq's 45, top score on a busy day, was a gem.