James Anderson admits England are in for a "battle" over the next few days after a "nerve-wracking" opening day in Dubai.

Day one of the third and final Test against Pakistan turned out to be one to forget for the batsmen as 16 wickets fell. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Misbah-ul-Haq's side were bowled out for 99 as Stuart Broad (four for 36) and Anderson (three for 35) gave England the early foothold in the game.

Pakistan's bowlers, though, were not to be outdone as they restricted the visitors to 104 for six at the close of play.

Anderson, who will resume the innings with captain Andrew Strauss (41 not out) when play gets underway on Saturday morning, predicts a close contest.

"It was probably a good day to be watching, but a pretty nerve-wracking one for the players," he said.

"We were delighted with the start we got with the ball, and the way we kept creating pressure throughout the innings.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get off to a great start with the bat - and it looks like it's going to be a battle for the next few days.

"It's going to be a really tight match."

Anderson hopes England's lower order, which includes Broad and Graeme Swann, can come to the party with the bat on day two as look to put the visitors on the front foot.

"I've got to hang around as much as I can and bat for Straussy," the 30-year-old said.

"He's batted a while on that pitch and is used to the pace of it, so he can maybe score a bit more freely.

"If we can get 20 or 30 ahead, with Swann and Broad to come, I think we could be in a really good position."

After the early loss of Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, England appeared to be cruising at 64 for two but Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior fell in quick succession as Abdur Rehman (three for 23) and Saeed Ajmal (one for 40) turned the screws.

"I don't know if there's a frailty of confidence," said Anderson of a batting line-up.

"All our guys are confident - but they're probably just not spending the time at the crease they would like, and Pakistan are bowling some really good balls to get us out.

"It's as simple as that."

The Decision Review System was once again a big talking about as Mohammad Hafeez and Pietersen were both furious when they were given out.

Umpire Simon Taufel turned down an lbw appeal from Broad thinking Hafeez got a bit of bat to the ball, but England reviewed it and Hotspot found no nick.

Pietersen, meanwhile, was given out lbw and sent the decision upstairs, but it was upheld.

"At the end of the day, they get the decisions right - and I think it creates more drama throughout the day," Anderson said.

"For a neutral, it's pretty exciting watching. It's not so much like that when your players out there are hanging on a replay to see if your lbw is going to be given out or not.

"But it's part of the game, and we've just got to deal with it."

With England sporting a five-run lead, Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan hopes his bowlers can limit the damage on Saturday.

"Obviously, we don't want to give England a big lead," he said.

"Even though we are 2-0 up, we have a lot of respect for the English talent and calibre with bat and ball.

"I've been asking the bowlers and batsmen to take responsibility, and I'm very happy to see that - if one way or another we are not doing the job - the other half is covering that up."