When bad light stopped play five overs early, opener Anwar and a valiant Mushtaq Ahmed had shored up the innings with an unbroken 106-run stand.

It was a Test record for the ninth wicket for Pakistan against Australia, beating the 56 by Intikhab Alam and Afaq Hussain at Melbourne in 1964/65.

It was Anwar's first hundred against Australia and his sixth Test century. At close, Mushtaq was on 26 garnered over 127 minutes of stubborn resistance.

Australia's wicket-keeper Ian Healy equalled predecessor Rodney Marsh's world record tally of 355 victims when he caught Mohammad Wasim off Damien Fleming, his second catch of the morning session.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat but collapsed to 50 for four as Glenn McGrath and Fleming bowled with nagging accuracy.

After lunch, leg-spinner Stuart MacGillfurther dented Pakistan, taking four wickets, three of them in seven balls.

Pakistan, who had resumed after lunch at 78 for four, found themselves at 147 for eight after MacGill's fourth strike.

Barring Moin Khan, who shared an useful stand of 59 with Anwar, none of the other batsmen offered an resistance. Moin was MacGill's second victim, lobbing an easy catch to Fleming at point. The batsman scored 39 and hit six fours in a 71-minute stay.

MacGill, who took five for 134 on his debut against South Africa earlier this year, finished the day with four for 64.

In the last session Pakistan recovered through the stout resistance of Anwar and Mushtaq.

Anwar delighted the crowd with crisp cutting and driving as he went after the bowling and found in Mushtaq the right partner to salvage a tottering innings.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan (1st innings): Saeed Anwar batting 132, Aamir Sohail c Healy b McGrath 4, Mohammad Wasim c Healy b Fleming 1, Inzamam-ul Haq c Langer b McGrath 14, Salim Malik c Taylor bMiller 10, Azhar Mahmood c McGrath b MacGill 16, Moin Khan c Fleming b MacGill 39, Wasim Akram c Fleming b MacGill 0, Mohammad Hussain b MacGill 1, Mushtaq Ahmed batting 26; Extras: (b5, lb2, nb3) 10. Total: (for eight wickets in 85 overs) 253

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-18, 3-35, 4-50, 5-81, 6-140, 7-140, 8-147

Bowling: McGrath 21-2-79-2 (1nb), Fleming 15-2-32-1 (2nb), Miller 22-4-62-1, MacGill 21-5-64-4, Lehmann 4-1-3-0, S Waugh 2-0-6-0