Marcus Trescothick likened his batting to ''pulling teeth'' at the Pindi Stadium yesterday - but England were happy to grin and bear it as he ground out the runs which saved their blushes on the first day of their tour opener in Pakistan.

Without Trescothick's defiant century, the Ashes heroes - who lurched to 60 for six at one stage against the Patron's team - would surely have been shot out for an embarrassingly low total.

In their first effort together since the summer's unexpected 2-1 Ashes victory over Australia - and exactly seven weeks after their Oval lap of honour - Michael Vaughan's team were hugely indebted to the Somerset left-hander's 186-ball hundred as they mustered an unconvincing 256 for nine on day one of three, having chosen to bat first.

Opener Trescothick's unbeaten 124 was the only score above nine from any of the top seven as the Patron's team used the new ball well and then began to find telling movement off the pitch in the middle overs, former Scottish Saltires seamer Yasir Arafat finishing with four for 45 - all bowled.

Trescothick was in modest mood with a few observations at his own expense as he reflected on his innings. There was no doubt, though, that he could be happy with his contribution on a day most other England batsmen will want to forget.

''At one stage I had faced well over 100 balls for 40 - so it was like pulling teeth for a while,'' he said.

Trescothick is well aware there will have to be more of the same over the next seven weeks from him and his team-mates if they are to have a successful tour.

''I got a bit lucky and had a few close lbws early on. But you can't always come out and blaze it - and it's not going to be like that over here, because the wickets are generally slow,'' he explained.

''That is what we are going to have to adapt to. In England it flies across the square and the outfields are so quick that dead-bat shots go for four sometimes. Here, they don't even make the outfield.''

Trescothick was disappointed to see the rest of the batting firepower miss out on a desultory England card which featured his century at the top and then had to wait until number eight for its next worthwhile score, before Matt Prior (50) helped post a five-an-over ninth-wicket stand of 117.

''It would have been nice if the top order had got a few more runs. Being 60 for six is not ideal preparation, but it is still very early into the tour,'' said Trescothick.

As conditions eased, he began to get the measure of a tiring attack with a series of sweetly-timed off-side shots and pulls off the pace bowlers and variations of the sweep against the spinners as he hit 16 fours and two sixes - after a morning collapse in which five wickets fell for 19 runs.

Even Trescothick needed some early good fortune as Rawalpindi-born 20-year-old left-arm seamer Najaf Shah made it difficult in a spell of two for 16 in nine overs and then Arafat took three wickets in 12 deliveries.

Andrew Strauss and Vaughan were Najaf's two top-order victims, both beaten by good pieces of bowling as well as their own misjudgements - but after Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood had gone for the addition of only one run, it seemed coach Duncan Fletcher's warning on Sunday that batsmen need to learn patience on sub-Continental pitches had failed to sink in. Strauss shouldered arms to a ball from Najaf which held its line to hit off stump from a fuller length than the left-hander had bargained for, and then Vaughan was trapped in front on the crease.

Pietersen reacted to the arrival of Yasir Ali at the pavilion end by spearing a drive on the up to be caught at gully off the new bowler's third delivery - and Collingwood went for a duck when he under-edged a pull at Arafat on to his middle-stump, from a ball which might have been better met by a backward-defensive bat.

Ian Bell did not last long before Arafat snaked a full-length ball between bat and pad and Geraint Jones was soon also bowled by a similar delivery.

The belated support acts began with Ashley Giles, who dominated a seventh-wicket stand of 38; then Shaun Udal stayed long enough to accompany Trescothick as he passed his half-century.

But it was Prior who took his opportunity best with a 61-ball 50 which contained eight fours as he kept pace with his senior partner without taking undue risks.

* Mahendra Dhoni hit the highest one-day international score by a wicketkeeper as India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in Jaipur to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The 24-year-old cracked an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls to see the hosts reach their target of 299 with 23 balls to spare.

l Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje will not be part of South Africa's squad for next month's tour to India. The two players had both refused to travel to India for the one-day series unless they were promised immunity from prosecution over their alleged involvement in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal in 2000