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England need 174 more runs to win the first Test after dismissing Pakistan for 341 and ending day four on 24-1.
Andrew Flintoff took 4-88 and Steve Harmison 3-52 as the hosts lost their last seven wickets for 75 runs.
Salman Butt (122) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (72) had put on 135 but Matthew Hoggard trapped the captain lbw and the rest perished playing aggressive strokes.
Marcus Trescothick played on and Ian Bell nearly ran out Andrew Strauss in the remaining nine overs in Multan.
So a see-saw match, which at one point seemed to be drifting towards a draw, is set for a tense finale - but it is England's to lose on a pitch that is still largely benign.
The tourists were heading for a day of frustration, particularly when Flintoff thought Butt had gloved the first ball of the day to Strauss at second slip, only for it to be signalled a no-ball.
The sight of night-watchman Mohammad Sami trudging back to the pavillion after edging the all-rounder behind became a distant memory as Butt and Inzamam settled in comfortably.
Flintoff and Ashley Giles were convinced they had Inzamam trapped in front but that was as good as it got for the rest of the morning as both batsmen repeatedly drove Flintoff through the covers.
Hometown boy Inzamam was happy for the most part to occasionally amble between the wicket for singles, one of which brought up 1,000 runs for him against England.
After his initial flurry of boundaries, Butt also bedded in for the long haul and duly completed his second Test century moments after lunch, turning Giles to long leg for two to bring up three figures off 207 balls.
He could have been out soon after when Jones gathered Paul Collingwood's throw from deep mid-wicket and took off the bails but the third umpire ruled in his favour.
But things soon turned sour for his team and by tea England had regained the initiative they squandered the previous afternoon.
Inzamam inexplicably shouldered arms to Hoggard's second delivery with the new ball and was plumb in front.
Mohammad Yousuf started confidently by hammering Hoggard away through the covers for four and clipped two overpitched Flintoff deliveries to the mid-wicket boundary.
But he chased a wide one from Flintoff and edged to gully, where Bell took a sharp catch.
A score of 285-5 soon became 295-7 as the leaden-footed Hasan Raza drove wildly at Flintoff and Marcus Trescothick held on at first slip, before Hoggard's good-length delivery took off and moved away to end Butt's 257-ball defiance.
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