In a nutshell: Pakistan live to fight another day

The scorecard: Pakistan 8-382 (Shafiq 100no, Bird 3-94) need 108 runs to win

The day in a tweet: Super Shafiq! Gutsy Pakistan live to fight another day after centurion's special effort amid Brisbane rain #AUSvPAK

The heroes: Asad Shafiq's incredible fighting hundred arrived after 10pm but it was worth the wait. The No.6 slashed one through point for three to bring up the milestone, and was bear-hugged by teammate Wahab Riaz after celebrating lustily. Shafiq's brilliant 100no and Azhar Ali's 71 (179) were not only noteworthy for giving the tourists the slimmest of hopes of saving this match, but they will have given the experienced pair plenty of confidence heading into the remainder of the series. Despite having played 54 (Azhar) and 50 (Shafiq) matches, neither had tasted Test cricket in Australia, and with Melbourne and Sydney Tests to follow, the bounce of Brisbane is about as foreign as it's likely to get. Shafiq seemed to thrive as the Australians faltered, getting to his century from just 140 balls as he found the bounce in the pitch to his liking and handled the spin of Lyon expertly. It was a 10th Test hundred from a man Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur had described as a "superb technician" in the build-up to this Test. 

The shock: Younis Khan had looked just about immovable through his 147-ball stay at the crease, patiently evading a bombardment of short balls from Australia's pace attack, leaving well, and expertly defending anything that might have been zeroing in on the timber. So it was a bewildering sight when the 39-year-old pulled out what looked to be a premeditated reverse sweep off the bowling of Nathan Lyon. Ball feathered bat, then hit his arm and eventually ballooned up behind the stumps, allowing Steve Smith to take a simple catch. A vociferous appeal followed, and before umpire Ian Gould had to make a decision, Younis sportingly began making his way back to the pavilion. Just like that, the man who has scored more fourth-innings Test hundreds (five) than anyone was no longer a roadblock for the hosts. 

The tail: Talk about wagging. Mohammad Amir looked very much the part with a fine 48 from 63 that stalled and frustrated Australia, and his fellow left-arm quick Wahab Riaz followed suit with 30 to support Shafiq on his way to a hundred. It was all in stark contrast to the lack of fight the tourists had shown in the first innings. 

The drops: We've seen Steve Smith hang on to two absolute screamers in recent weeks but perhaps the Australia skipper prefers sighting the white ball under lights, because what by his standards were two routine chances went begging in the belated final session. Josh Hazlewood drew the edge from dangerman Sarfraz Ahmed, who was 17 at the time, and it flew to Smith at second slip, who spilled the chance. It's not the first time we've seen him drop the pink ball; he put two down in the Adelaide Test against New Zealand last year. 

The Zing thing: Mitchell Starc is famed for hitting the stumps and he got a rapid one at around 150 clicks straight through the defences of Sarfraz (24), crashing into the stumps and lighting up the zing bails. It was a huge breakthrough, considering the 'keeper had contributed more runs than anyone else from his team. 

The sledge: It wasn't long after that Starc, bowling the final ball of his fastest spell of the match, over-pitched an attempted yorker that crashed on the full into the padding of Mohammad Amir. The speed gun clocked it at 152.3kph and the pair immediately exchanged words, Starc gesturing to the Pakistani that he couldn't quite hear what he was saying and suggesting he repeat himself. 

The longest session: Owing to a rain-interrupted day, the final session began at 7pm local time. Owing to a slow over-rate, the contest continued through to 9.30pm local time. And owing to the fact that the umpires thought the match could end tonight, play was allowed to continue until 10.10pm. By that point, the Gabba was all-but empty, the Australians had had enough, and the plucky Pakistanis seemed more than capable of batting through the night. 

The trivia: Never before has a team managed to score this many runs in the fourth innings of a Gabba Test. Pakistan broke the record set by England, who made 370 in the Ashes a decade ago and still lost by 277 runs. 

The wash-up: Remarkably, this Test has gone into a fifth day, and Pakistan will doubtless take huge confidence from the character, class and resilience they've shown. 

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