The tourists plunged to 179 at the end of their first innings -- still 202 runs behind Australia's first innings total of 381 and three runs short of avoiding the follow-on.

Instead Ponting decided to bat again and after three overs his team were 15 for none at stumps with openers Justin Langer not out on three and Matthew Hayden on seven.

But already there was more bad news for Pakistan after star bowler Shoaib Akhtar limped off the ground halfway through his second over.

It was he and fellow paceman Mohammad Sami who had provided the only bright spot in a terrible day for Pakistan with a dour ninth-wicket stand of 60 which took 176 balls to build.

After a shaky start in their opening session, losing the opening pair of Salman Butt and Imran Farhat for 45, Pakistan then lost six wickets after the lunch break for just 60.

Shane Warne and Michael Kasprowicz feasted on the slovenly antics of the Pakistan batsmen to finish with figures of 3-38 and 5-30 respectively.

Warne in particular was delighted to see the wickets of allrounder Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Khalil fall to his guile as they attempted outrageous swipes.

But it was Younis Khan, who had come to the crease with the score at 45 for two and had settled the innings slightly with a measured 42, that started the rot.

Younis had already seen his captain Inzamamul Haq bowled by Kasprowicz straight after lunch for one and Yousuf Youhana caught behind off the same bowler for the same score to see his team reeling at 60 for four.

Yet after carrying his team to 108, he tried a slog across the line of a Warne delivery only to sky a ball to Jason Gillespie.

Pakistan then lost Razzaq for 21, Kamran Akmal for two and Khalil to equally bizarre shots while adding just three runs to the tally.

It was then left to Akhtar and Mohammad Sami to show up the batsmen with their determined though tedious partnership.

The Australians tried everything to get the two bowlers out, including several overs by captain Ricky Ponting, but Sami was able to hoist one of his medium-pace seamers for six.

Earlier in the day Australian opener Justin Langer's hopes of carrying his bat through his team's first innings and clocking up his fourth test double century were shattered when he could add just 10 runs to his overnight tally of 181.

The Australian skied a rising delivery to backward point where he was caught by Younis Khan. Tail-ender Glenn McGrath remained not out on four.