Akmal continued his superb recent form to defy the Indians

Pakistan hit back from 39-6 to post 245 and reduce India to 74-4 on a dramatic first day of the final Test in Karachi.

Irfan Pathan (5-61) took a hat-trick in the first over, the first bowler to do so, but Kamran Akmal struck a brilliant 113 to lead his side to respectability.

He put on 115 with Abdul Razzaq and 92 with Shoaib Akhtar, who both made 45.

Mohammad Asif and Shoaib then removed Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag before Asif cleaned up VVS Laxman (19) and Razzaq bowled Sachin Tendulkar for 23.

After two tame stalemates on lifeless pitches the series finally came to life at the National Stadium - and the hosts will sleep more comfortably than had seemed possible in the morning session.

Inzamam hopeful of quick recovery

In the absence of injured captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (back), their top order failed to deal with the swing movement generated by Pathan and Zaheer Khan.

Salman Butt edged the fourth ball to Dravid at first slip, while Younis Khan (lbw) and Mohammad Yousuf (bowled) were beaten by big inswingers as Pathan followed Harbhajan Singh (against Australia in Calcutta in 2001) in claiming the coveted treble for India.

Faisal Iqbal, making his first Test appearance since 2003, offered no stroke to another inswinger from Zaheer and was somewhat harshly sent on his way.

If he was unlucky, Shahid Afridi and Imran Farhat - recalled for the first time in a year - were simply reckless.

Afridi went for an outrageously big shot off a decent Zaheer delivery and the stumps were rattled again, while Farhat's wild heave outside off-stump to Rudra Pratap Singh gave wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni a simple catch.

Pathan ripped through the top order in stunning fashion

But Razzaq and Akmal batted sensibly to guide the home side past their lowest Test total of 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002 and a lunch score of 101-6.

Razzaq fell after the interval when he was adjudged leg before to one that Pratap Singh jagged back but Akmal continued to punish a steady diet of over-pitched deliveries with some delightful drives.

He should have been on his way for 80 when leg-spinner Anil Kumble responded to his charge by dropping the ball short but Dhoni inexplicably missed a straightforward stumping chance.

The gloveman made the most of his reprieve to cut Pratap Singh for his 16th boundary to bring up his fourth Test century off 130 balls and his third in five innings.

A tired push from Akmal after tea at Pathan presented Dhoni with another opportunity - which he took - but Shoaib carried on the fight to the Indians.

He mixed watchful defence with timely aggression to crack Kumble over his head for four and mid-wicket for six and was closing in on his first Test fifty.

Mohammad Yousuf was cleaned up by a big Pathan inswinger

However, the innings ended in a hurry when Asif edged Pratap Singh to Laxman at second slip and Shoaib holed out to Yuvraj Singh at long-on off Pathan.

India's batsmen soon ran into problems of their own as Asif and Shoaib found plenty of seam movement to remove Dravid and Sehwag with only 14 on the board.

Tendulkar was immediately in all sorts of trouble, struck on the helmet by another snorter from Shoaib and Laxman was lucky when he edged the "Rawalpindi Express" between keeper and first slip.

The duo looked to have ridden out the storm when a pearler from Asif, almost a rapid off-break, beat Laxman's defences to hit middle-and-off.

Not long after, Razzaq also got one to dart in and castle Tendulkar, who had shown glimpses of his best form with some delightful cover drives off his pads.

It was hardly the ideal scenario for a man trying to save his Test career (Sourav Ganguly) and a youngster trying to build one (Yuvraj).