Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne overcame intense back pain to put his team in a strong position in the second Test against Pakistan in Galle on Tuesday.
The hosts reached 176-5 when early stumps was called due to bad weather, extending their lead to 323 on day three of the Test after dismissing the visitors for 231 earlier with Ramesh Mendis picking up five wickets.
Even though Pakistan bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals, an unbroken 59-run stand for the sixth wicket between Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva saw Sri Lanka’s lead pass 300.
However, Sri Lanka will still not be breathing easy as Pakistan had chased down 342 to win the first Test, also at Galle.
Karunaratne has been struggling with back spasms during this Test and only came out to bat after the fall of the fourth wicket. He was feeling uncomfortable while running between the wickets but was unbeaten on 27 when play was called off with 19 overs left.
De Silva dominated the partnership as he posted 30 not out off 52 deliveries with six fours.
Niroshan Dickwella opened the batting in place of Karunaratne and was caught behind off fast bowler Naseem Shah (2-29) when he chased a wide delivery.
The spin trio of Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz and Agha Salman picked up a wicket apiece to keep Pakistan interested as Sri Lanka lost four wickets between lunch and tea.
Off-spinner Agha Salman got Angelo Mathews out for his maiden Test wicket after Pakistan reviewed the umpire's call, with ultra-edge technology confirming a spike when the ball passed the bat and into the hands of slip.
The in-form Dinesh Chandimal, with scores of 206 not out, 76, 94 not out and 80 in his last four innings, looked good for 21 but was caught behind off fast bowler Naseem soon after tea.
Sri Lanka were reduced to 117-5 and only had a lead of 264 at that point but the partnership between Karunaratne and De Silva put the hosts back on top.
Earlier, Mendis claimed 5-47, his third five-wicket haul in Tests, as Sri Lanka bowled out Pakistan for 231 to secure a significant lead.
Resuming on 191-7, Yasir Shah and Hasan Ali batted resolutely to deny Sri Lanka any breakthrough in the first hour. Once Prabath Jayasuriya (3-80) removed Hasan, however, Sri Lanka did not take long to polish off the Pakistan tail with Mendis dismissing Nauman Ali and Yasir.
Yasir faced 97 balls for his 26 and was the last man out.