Sri Lanka fought hard against Pakistani spinners led by Saeed Ajmal to reach 220-5 at close on the opening day of the third Test in Sharjah on Thursday.
Ajmal took 2-62 to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 166-5 before Angelo Mathews (24) and Prasanna Jayawardene (28) saw off the day with a 54-run unfinished stand on a spin-friendly Sharjah stadium pitch.
Pakistan had to rue a dropped catch by paceman Mohammad Talha when Mathews had not scored while a leg-before decision against Prasanna was turned down on referral – two lapses which denied Pakistan the chance to take full control.
Misbah ul-Haq's side managed to grab the key wickets of Kumar Sangakkara (52) and Mahela Jayawardene (47) on either side of tea but they would have hoped to have made further in-roads before the end of play.
Pakistan had made a good start to the day when they removed both Sri Lankan openers Kaushal Silva (17) and Dimuth Karunaratne on either side of lunch.
Paceman Mohammad Talha forced an edge off Silva in his second spell to leave Sri Lanka 31-1, while left-hander Karunaratne hit two boundaries and a six before he edged left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman in the first over after lunch and was caught by Younis Khan in the slips.
Sangakkara and Jayawardene then combined superbly before the former flicked a straight drive into the hands of mid-wicket from paceman Junaid Khan, two balls after completing his half-century.
Jayawardene, who hit 129 in Sri Lanka's nine wicket win in the second Test in Dubai, hit two sixes and five boundaries during a 108-ball knock but edged a turning ball and was smartly caught at short-leg, while Dinesh Chandimal couldn't survive long, as he miscued a drive off Ajmal and was caught by a running Asad Shafiq at mid-on after making 11.
Pakistan were in control at this stage but failed to take another wicket and will be looking for early wickets on day two as they look to draw the series.
