For weeks, Pakistan tantalized England with hints of green pitches and seamer-friendly conditions. Just before the opening game, they removed the covers, shaved off any trace of green, and gave the heavy roller a final, decisive spin. After winning the toss, they invited the tourists to do their best. What followed was a bowling performance that, until the final session when they took three wickets for 95, was as flat as the surface the bowlers had to contend with. This provided an opportunity for a Pakistan lineup that has struggled for form.

Pakistan finished on 328 for four, thanks to centuries from Shan Masood and Abdullah Shafique, which put them in a dominant position. However, given their last series where they scored 448 for six declared against Bangladesh and still lost, this lead doesn't feel particularly secure.

It's hard to see how the presence of Jimmy Anderson, England's fast bowling coach, could have improved matters. This was certainly not a day that made his decision to start the series on a Scottish golf course appear any wiser. Despite their efforts, the seamers had their moments: Chris Woakes' best spell came late in the day, under floodlights and with the second new ball, during which he trapped Babar Azam lbw. Brydon Carse bowled with pace and venom, and Gus Atkinson took two wickets.

The first of those wickets gave England early hope, breaking Pakistan's opening partnership for a score that was both terrible and their best in nine months. When the ball flicked Saim Ayub's glove and into Jamie Smith's gloves, Ayub had scored four and his team eight. This somehow ranks as the best partnership so far between him and Shafique, who are averaging 3.28 after seven attempts together. In Test cricket history, no pair has gone so long without reaching double figures.

That was sweet for England, but all that followed was sweat. The breakthrough brought Masood to the crease, with his struggling side on the edge of a fresh crisis. His position as captain and in the team has been debated in recent months, and it had been over four years and 26 innings since he last scored a Test ton, with an average of 20.69. But it quickly became clear that there were no demons in this pitch, or in his head.

From the start, Masood's timing was sweet and his movements smooth. He was particularly dismissive when England attempted some short stuff after lunch. For a brief scare when he was given out lbw on 16, a decision reversed on review because the ball pitched wide of leg stump, he gave his opponents nothing but punishment.

Shafique at the other end was less fluent, more safety-focused, as expected of a player who had been dismissed for fewer than five runs in eight of his previous 10 Test innings. Not without ambition, he scored 10 fours and two sixes, immaculately timed. One, lifted down the ground off the spin of Shoaib Bashir, brought up his 50, and the other, lifted down the ground off the spin of Jack Leach, brought up an exuberantly received hundred, on his way to an 184-ball 102.

Shafique's one misjudgement came at the start of the 17th over, when he called for a wildly ill-conceived single off Carse and presented Ollie Pope with a wonderful chance to run him out. Pope did not appreciate how much time he had, attempting an underarm throw at the stumps that narrowly missed, with the batter still distant. After that, Shafique retreated into his shell, and a run of 17 successive dot balls, which he eventually busted out of by hitting 15 off one Bashir over.

The next time England got close to a wicket was precisely 26 overs later. Masood was on 115, and even that was close only in their imaginations, with a review for a possible catch that nobody seemed excited about, showing the ball hitting only a pad before looping to slip. Both batters eventually fell in the hour after tea, Shafique pushing straight to Pope at cover and Masood, having scored 151 off 177, chipping a return catch to Leach. Babar and Saud Shakeel then shared a stand of 61 for the fourth wicket before the former fell for 30 to bring Naseem Shah out as nightwatchman.

It's worth noting that England has never had a swifter turnaround from their last Test of the summer to their first of the winter. Sri Lanka wrapped up victory at the Oval on 9 September; it might not have been the horror show that had been threatened, but this often lifeless display came, perhaps appropriately, 28 days later.