James Anderson had plenty to celebrate on his 28th birthday thanks to a five-wicket haul which put England in control against Pakistan at Trent Bridge.
Anderson took 5-49 but had earlier been out for a golden duck after playing no shot at Mohammad Asif, as England collapsed from 337-4 to 354 all out on day two of the first Test.
The suspicion was that England's best swing bowler would have a perfect chance to make amends for his batting failure on one of his favourite grounds - and so it proved as Pakistan lurched to 47-6 and eventually 147-9 when bad light brought an early close to a cloudy day.
"It didn't start out too well, but a few wickets at the end meant it finished on a happy note," said Anderson, after helping Steve Finn, who took 3-20, run through the tourists' top order.
"I didn't think it swung as much as it did yesterday, which probably helped get the edge a bit more today. But I thought all of us made best use of the conditions."
Anderson's ninth five-wicket haul in Tests came at the scene of his career-best 7-43 against New Zealand two years ago.
"It's been good to me the last couple of times I've been here," he agreed.
"Certain grounds do tend to swing every time you come, and this is one of them."
Anderson's outstanding performance came at a particularly handy time for him personally, with his standing as England's No.1 pace bowler under threat from several quarters.
He did not seek to hide that fact either, but insists the pace rivalry can only be good for Andrew Strauss' team.
"There's been a lot of competition over the last few months, and a couple of guys have been unlucky to miss out this week," Anderson said.
"I think that's really healthy, and what you need in a team to succeed.
"All three of us [seamers] have got to keep on producing good performances to keep our spots.
"All of us are under pressure."
Anderson, Finn and Stuart Broad bowled England into a position from which Strauss may yet to be able to enforce the follow-on - Pakistan need another eight runs on Sunday to preclude that possibility.
The Lancashire fast bowler said: "It's something we have to weigh up tomorrow.
"There's a lot to take into consideration - the freshness of the bowlers, which is pretty good at the moment, conditions in the morning. But first and foremost, we've got to get another wicket."
England's advantageous position has come about in part because it has had better luck than its opponents with the decision review system.
Anderson said: "It's trickier than it seems, and something we're having to get used to.
"We've probably not used it as well as we could in the past. But I think we've used it pretty well so far in this game."
Pakistan No.3 Azhar Ali did not call on DRS, even though he would have been reprieved thanks to the apparent failure of the 'Hotspot' to detect an edge behind off Anderson.
The tourists' captain Salman Butt said: "This technology is not 100 percent.
"When the ball hits the sticker on the side [of the bat] it doesn't leave a ['Hotspot'] mark.
"But the point is if the batsman knows he has hit the ball there's no point taking a chance - because if it's up there on the big screen it's pretty embarrassing.
"I think it was very honest of Azhar Ali, good sportsmanship. He edged it and he walked straightaway.
"He knew he was out, so there's no point taking the referral. If you are found out on the big screen, it doesn't look nice."