Galle: Kumar Sangakkara and Kaushal Silva scored well constructed fifties as Sri Lanka ended the second day at 178-3 in the first test against Pakistan in Galle.
Silva and Angelo Mathews were unbeaten at 80 and 10 runs respectively when the umpires decided to call off the day because of bad light.
The start of the first session on the second day was also delayed after the first day was completely washed out.
Eventually, Misbah-ul-Haq invited Sri Lanka to bat. However, their bowlers struggled to generate swing with the new ball. It was Silva, who showed superb balance to handle the pacers. Wahab Riaz, who bowled with a good pace, picked the first wicket by dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne for 21.
Silva and Sangakkara slowly kept the scoreboard moving. Both batsmen were able to pick the length of Pakistan's spinners well and efficiently used the depth of the crease.
However, it was Riaz, who again made the breakthrough by sending Sangakkara back to the pavilion after scoring exact 50. Lahiru Thirimanne didn't make much of an impression as he lost his wicket to Mohammad Hafeez.
Yasir Shah extracted turn and bounce, and his spin colleague Zulfiqar Babar bowled with good control. However, Pakistan's fielding was once again not up to the mark as they dropped Silva to give him a reprieve
Brief scores
Sri Lanka - 178 for 3 (Silva 80*, Sangakkara 50)