Misbah helped steady his side after two brilliant morning catches by the indomitable Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson's 418th Test wicket from the first ball of the afternoon had reduced Pakistan to 85-3.
With two days remaining and 17 wickets still potentially to fall, a draw looks the probable outcome, although Wahab Riaz's removal of Bell (63) and Mark Wood (4) in successive overs near the close again put the hosts in the ascendancy.
Hitting a patient century on Test comeback, former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik credited his wife and tennis star Sania Mirza for his success.
Younis Khan became Pakistan's all-time leading run scorer in Test cricket and Shoaib Malik scored his first century in almost six years, as the home side posted 286-4 at the end of the opening day of the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi.
England beat Pakistan by 330 runs to win the 2nd Test at Old Trafford to level the four-match series 1-1 on Monday.
Since the 76-run defeat to India at the World Cup gloom has descended on the Pakistanis. It seemed as if the team had left the Inter-Continental hotel in Adelaide after the match.
Pakistan selectors will have no surprises in store when they announce the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka on the next 48 hours apart from recalling talented opener Ahmed Shehzad.
Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes produced a record 273-run partnership in an unbroken opening stand to help Bangladesh whittle down Pakistan's huge lead to 23 runs at the close of the penultimate day of the opening Test at Khulna on Friday.
Mohammad Hafeez led Pakistan's strong reply with his third hundred in as many Tests after Bangladesh lost their last five wickets for 27 runs on the second day of the opening Test at Khulna on Wednesday.
Pakistan made a winning return on Saturday to the venue where they defeated New Zealand in their 1992 cricket World Cup semi-final.
Pakistan cricket has got more bad news ahead of the World Cup after all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez failed to clear the informal bio-mechanics test in Chennai.
England pacer James Anderson reclaimed the number-one ranking from India's Ravichandran Ashwin in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers released on Monday after the end of the Edgbaston Test.
Joe Root's unbeaten half-century helped stuttering England reach 182 for three at the close on the second day of the second Test on Friday after Pakistan's seam and spin attack ran through the tourists' top order.
Having set the visitors an impossible 603-run victory target, Pakistan claimed the remaining six wickets in a little over a session on the final day to secure their first Test series victory against Australia in 20 years.
Some strong performances with the bat will help Joe Root to surge to the top and then potentially strengthen his position in the four-Test series against Pakistan, which begins on 14 July.
Australia enter their World Cup quarter-final as runaway favourites against Pakistan in Adelaide on Friday, but will be wary of an enigmatic team that have proved a major thorn in their side at past tournaments.
A selection of musings from around the cricket World Cup.
Images from the World cup match between India and Pakistan at Adelaide.
Former Pakistan players reacted strongly to the national team's 'great escape' in the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi with many saying that the batsmen's surrender in the second innings was appalling.
The 28-year-old Kohli scored 62 and six not out to move to 833 points, within 14 points of England's Joe Root in a list led by Australia captain Steve Smith.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis has warned his team to beware a backlash from a wounded Australia in the second and final Test in Abu Dhabi starting on Thursday.
Australia's batsmen need to concentrate as much on hitting the straight ball as worrying about movement when they face Pakistan's spinners in the ongoing Test series, coach Darren Lehmann has said.
Azhar Ali struck his maiden Test double hundred and Asad Shafiq registered his sixth century as Pakistan took firm control of the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur, Dhaka , on Thursday.
Virat Kohli scored an imperious century to steer India to a thumping 76 runs victory over Pakistan in their opening World Cup match at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. After putting up an imposing 300 for seven, they shot out their arch-rivals for only 224 to begin the defence of their crown on a rousing note.
Ahmed Shehzad smashed 95 off 90 balls as Pakistan thrashed below-par Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the fourth one-day match in Colombo on Wednesday to clinch the five-match series.
Factbox on the third World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan made half-centuries as Pakistan ambled to 222 for three at the close on day three of the second Test on Saturday, 358 runs ahead of England after Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah had scuttled the tourists lower order before lunch.
Consistent death bowling from a Bumrah and spinners picking up wickets in the middle overs is why the average run-rate in the last few years hasn't exploded the way one would have expected, says Dhruv Munjal.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be gunning for the No.1 spot in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as an interesting contest promises to develop with Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who wrested the top spot following a 10-wicket haul in the Lord's Test that ended on Sunday.
Anderson becomes number-one ranked Test bowler
In terms of days, Dale Steyn has spent 2,320 days at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, the most by any bowler since World War II.
Off the field the Board of Control for Cricket in India looks set for a complete overhaul with Supreme Court's stinging observations tightening the noose around the mandarins of the richest sports body.
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara eye top 10 places while Ravindra Jadeja jumps to career-best third position among Test all-rounders.
World cricket's most intriguing rivalry will once again be renewed when India take on an unpredictable Pakistan with rehabilitated pacer Mohammad Aamir being the focus of attention in a round-robin league encounter of the Asia Cup T20 tournament, in Mirpur, on Saturday.
'The present crop struggles overseas because they are not accustomed to getting wickets with patience and perseverance.' 'I don't know how they will survive when the track is not turning.'
'It was a good performance,' M S Dhoni said after the match. It was a little bit more than that, in that it came just when the team needed to reverse trends, to find self-belief, to be able to look ahead rather than behind.'
Virat Kohli dropped a position to 11th leaving India with no batsmen in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, in the latest update of the ICC Player Rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
The International Cricket Council released the provisional squads of the 12 teams for next year's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on Friday. However, co-hosts Australia and minnows Ireland decided against releasing the provisional list although they submitted 30 names to the parent body within the stipulated deadline.
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