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Tea Pakistan 258 and 1 for 37 need another 385 runs to beat Australia 8 or 225 dec (Watson 120*, Aamer 5-70) and 5 for 454 dec

Two themes from this young series - Shane Watson's nerves in the nineties and Pakistan's woes in the field - were brought to bear on Tuesday as Australia inched ever closer to victory in the first Test. Watson, whose issues converting half-centuries to three figures this summer have been well documented, was dropped by Abdur Rauf at gully off the bowling of Mohammad Aamer on 99, scampering through for a single on the misfield to seal his maiden Test ton.

Watson finished the innings with an unbeaten 120, providing Ricky Ponting with enough breathing room to declare Australia's second innings closed at 8 for 255 after the lunch break. That left Pakistan facing a would-be ground record fourth innings chase of 422 - a target that looked all the more improbable when Doug Bollinger dismissed Imran Farhat in the lead-up to tea.

For the third time this summer, Watson endured a nervous journey through the nineties. He headed to lunch unbeaten on 98, having cautiously seen off a maiden from Saeed Ajmal to close out the session. More anxious moments were to follow after the break, as Watson chased a succession of wide offerings outside off stump. Pakistan's tactic appeared to have worked when the right-hander slashed a full, wide Aamer delivery to Rauf in the gully, only for the embattled fielder to turf the chance and hand Watson his century - 66 minutes after he had entered the 90s.

Pakistan's fifth dropped catch of the match ensured Watson became the first Australian batsman since Michael Hussey at The Oval to reach triple figures in a Test, breaking a team sequence of 20 unconverted half-centuries. In 12 innings as Australia's Test opener, he has now scored 716 runs at the eye-catching average of 65.09. Phillip Hughes will have a while to wait yet.

Earlier, Pakistan reprised memories of Australia's second-innings collapses during the Ashes and, more recently, the Perth Test on a spritely opening to Tuesday. Aamer emerged as the perfect weapon - relentlessly attacking a top order in pursuit of quick runs and an early declaration - to become the second youngest bowler in Test history to claim a five-wicket haul. Only Nasim-ul-Ghani, a left-arm spinner-cum-medium pacer, achieved the feat at a younger age, doing so against the West Indians more than half a century ago.

Michael Clarke was Aamer's first victim, caught behind chasing a delivery that tailed away ever so slightly. Marcus North and Brad Haddin then fell in the space of two balls as part of a double-wicket maiden in his 18th over, ensuring the 17-year-old entry into a most exclusive club.

Favouring a predominantly around-the-wicket approach to Australia's right-handers, Aamer proved destructive in the extreme with a combination of express pace, probing lengths and subtle reverse swing. His efforts put the brakes on Australia's brisk early scoring rate, but given the discrepancy between the teams' first innings totals, they always seemed likely to be in vain.

That notion was enforced when Bollinger rapped Farhat on the pads in the seventh over of Pakistan's second innings. The appeal was orginally turned down by Rudi Koertzen, the on-field umpire, but overturned after replays showed the ball to have struck the batsman in line and going on to strike the top of middle stump.