Graham Thorpe scored a patient 118 and Craig White 89 not out against Pakistan's feared spinners yesterday as England took control of the first Test in Lahore.

They reached 393 for six at the end of the second day after Thorpe and White put on 136, an English record for the sixth wicket against Pakistan.

Thorpe, on 22 overnight, batted for most of the day, facing 301 deliveries in all during an innings of more than seven hours before he became off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq's sixth victim on a slow track at the Gaddafi stadium.

Thorpe scored just one four before reaching three figures, the only Test player to have scored a century with so few boundaries.

All-rounder White, scoring much faster, hit six fours and two sixes for his best score in Tests.

"It was probably my best innings for England," said Thorpe, Saqlain's team-mate at Surrey last season. "We have managed to bat for two days on a (difficult) wicket and against bowlers that people said we could not play against."

Saqlain had removed Graeme Hick lbw for 16 in the morning, on the way to figures of six for 131 from 57 overs. It was the 11th time that the 23-year-old Saqlain, playing in his 29th Test, has taken five wickets in an innings.

White's arrival, however, changed the tempo of the match as he went on the attack, targeting leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed. The all-rounder produced a series of lofted drives as he hit 22 off his first 20 deliveries.