Hafeez's half century helped put Pakistan in a strong position

Pakistan took charge of the third Test against West Indies after ending day three on 130-2, giving them a lead of 174 on a difficult pitch to bat on.

Opener Mohammad Hafeez (57no) put on 79 with Younis Khan (38), who fell lbw to spinner Chris Gayle just before stumps.

Earlier Imran Farhat (20) edged Daren Powell behind after adding 43 runs in painstaking fashion with Hafeez.

West Indies were all out for 260, thanks mainly to Denesh Ramdin (50), who made the most of two lifelines.

Resuming on 77 in a score of 191-6, Daren Ganga added only four before a casual shot off Abdul Razzaq saw him edge to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.

The pitch has eased up slightly but it's still not good Mohammad Hafeez

Umar Gul then bowled Powell with the second new ball to finish with 4-79 and Shahid Nazir had Jerome Taylor caught behind but Akmal made two costly errors.

The ball went through his legs when Ramdin edged leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and the keeper then grassed a diving catch off a big edge from Powell.

Ramdin put on 44 useful runs with Corey Collymore until he was run out five minutes before lunch after scoring his fourth fifty in his 15th Test.

Gul finished with four wickets as his side gained a handy lead

Farhat hit only three fours in 71 balls and went with his first real risky shot, a wild drive at Powell.

Hafeez took few risks either in reaching his fourth Test half century in 213 minutes.

Younis, celebrating his 29th birthday, tried to break the shackles by hitting Gayle for a big six but after being dropped by Bravo off his own bowling, was undone by a quicker Gayle delivery.

Despite that, the hosts - 1-0 up in the three-match series - hold all the aces on a pitch offering increasingly variable bounce and will look to hammer home their advantage on Thursday.

Hafeez said batting will only get more difficult on the last two days.

"We had to see off the new ball and that was why we were cautious initially," he said.

"It was tough to play strokes on this pitch. It has eased up slightly but it's still not good."