Malik, the most prolific batsman when Pakistan last toured England in 1992, has been scratching for runs throughout this current tour - with the result that the burden on the openers and on Inzamam ul Haq has more than doubled. What the tourists needed, for the final Test at the Oval beginning August 22, was for Malik to give a semblance of steadiness to the middleorder - and the veteran right-hander promised just that with an unbeaten 104 off 108 balls this weekened against his former county, Essex.

Malik, who had played for Essex in the 1991 and 1993 seasons, was involved in a 95 run partnership for the second wicket with the prolific Saeed Anwar (102), who recorded his fifth century of the tour and his second in consequtive games. And when Anwar departed with the Pak second innings score at 177, Malik took over the dom- inant role in a 100-run partnership with Asif Mujtaba (27 not out) that saw Pakistan to a score of 277 for two, and an overall lead of 389 over Essex going into the third day.

Earlier, Pakistan batting first had powered to 303 for nine declared on the opening day, with Inzamam-ul-Haq, bat- ting despite a slight finger injury, smashing a hurricane 106 and Asif Mujtaba hitting up a hundred. The only bowler to make any impression was England Test discard Ronnie Irani, who returned figures of four for 67. Former Test medium pacer Mark Illott and spinner Peter Such, however, were sa- vaged by the marauding Inzamam and Mujtaba.

When Essex batted, Waqar Younis - who struggled for wickets at Headingley in the second Test after helping leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed blow away the England batting lineup for a win in the first Test at Lord's - was in devastating form, taking five for 42 while teenaged off-spinner Saqlain Mustaq, who had just a couple of days earlier taken a six wicket haul in the previous Tetley Challenge fixture, chipped in with four for 47. Before the combined onslaught of Younis and Mushtaq, Essex crumbled to 191 and set up the platform for the Anwar-Malik blitz in the second in- nings.

Indications are that the tourists will declare at the overnight score when play resumes later Monday, and go flat out for its second successive win in the Tetley Chal- lenge series.