Tea Pakistan 147 for 2 (Shafique 77*, Imam 35, Babar 26*) and 218 need another 195 runs to beat Sri Lanka 222 and 337 (Chandimal 94*, Kusal Mendis 76, Nawaz 5-88)
What may worry Sri Lanka is the ease with which these two have settled, and the bowlers’ failure to cause trouble, even on as worn a surface as this.
Shafique completed a fifth Test half-century off the 94th delivery he faced, and though he lost opening partner Imam-ul-Haq soon after, he ambled securely ahead, rarely seeming like he didn’t have the measure of the opposition or this surface.
Babar, meanwhile, announced his arrival with a whip through mid-on for four, before crashing a six and a four over midwicket in one Jayasuriya over to get Pakistan moving again after the loss of the second wicket. But he soon settled into a pattern of accumulation, favouring the offside for his singles just as he liked the leg side for the big hits.
He even had a desperate lbw review burned on him, and went to tea unbeaten on 26 off 46.
The third umpire’s decision was several minutes and many replays in the making, but eventually, Pakistan’s opening stand was cut short at 87.
Azhar Ali, who came in at No. 3, made a slow start, batting out 31 deliveries for 6, before edging a flighted Jayasuriya delivery to slip.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers had, in fact, created more chances before lunch. Shafique could have been out lbw to Jayasuriya in the third over of Pakistan’s innings, but although Sri Lanka reviewed, the ball was not hitting enough of the leg stump to overturn the on-field not out decision.
But before Pakistan began batting, Chandimal had added eight runs to his and the team’s overnight score. However, with the last ball of the fourth over of the day, Naseem Shah burst through No. 11 Jayasuriya’s defences, and ended Sri Lanka’s innings, plus Chandimal’s quest for a century along with it. He was stranded on 94.