Lunch Pakistan 68 for 0 (Shafique 41*, Imam 25*) and 218 need another 274 runs to beat Sri Lanka 222 and 337 (Chandimal 94*, Kusal Mendis 76, Nawaz 5-88)
Shafique was especially impressive, as he frequently used his feet to the spinners to create run-scoring options on either side of the pitch. He also took full toll of errors in length by hitting two boundaries down the ground, rocking back to crack a short one in front of square on the off side, and whipping a full toss through deep midwicket.
He was occasionally beaten too, but got to 41 off 85 balls by lunch. Shafique had almost been out in the third over when Prabath Jayasuriya slid one into his front pad but was given not out on the field, with the ball not hitting enough of the leg stump to overturn the decision after Sri Lanka opted for DRS.
Imam had less of the strike, and played the less convincing innings. He was given out on 3 when Kasun Rajitha seamed one into his front pad, but had the decision overturned, with the projection showing the ball going over the stumps. In Rajitha’s next over, he attempted a big drive over cover, but mistimed it, and sent the ball high into the air.
Imam would hit two boundaries in the session, clipping a full Ramesh Mendis delivery though midwicket, and skipping down the track to launch Jayasuriya down the ground. He ended the session on 25* off 53.
Earlier, Chandimal had added eight to his overnight score – moving from 86 to 94 – before Naseem Shah breached Jaysuriya’s defence to end Sri Lanka’s innings. That was at the end of the fourth over of the morning.