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Pallekele: Sri Lanka, sent in to bat, were 272-8 in their first innings at stumps on the opening day of the third and final Test against Pakistan in Pallekele on Friday.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne top-scored with 130 as leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed four wickets, while Azhar Ali and Rahat Ali took two each.
Left-handed Karunaratne anchored the innings with a dogged 130, his second Test century following the 152 against New Zealand in Christchurch last December.
Yasir ended the day with four for 77, taking his tally in the series to 21 wickets, the most by a Pakistani bowler in a three-Test rubber in Sri Lanka.
Yasir enabled Pakistan to keep the runs in check despite conditions favouring the batsmen on the evenly-paced pitch after the initial moisture on the wicket had dried up under the hot sun.
Asked to bat, Sri Lanka lost Kaushal Silva (nine) in the morning session when the batsman edged paceman Rahat Ali to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.
Karunaratne added 91 with Upul Tharanga (46) to steady the innings but Shah came back after lunch to wreck their top order as Sri Lanka, steady at 106-1, lost three wickets for the addition of just 31 runs.
Tharanga was outfoxed by a Shah googly that took the outside edge, deflected off wicketkeeper Ahmed's pads and ballooned up for Younus Khan to take a diving catch at slip.
Lahiru Thirimanne needed 17 balls to get off the mark before he decided to race down the track and hit a Shah delivery straight to the mid-off fielder.
Jehan Mubarak, recalled to the Test side after almost eight years, helped Karunaratne add 67 for the fifth wicket before he was stumped off Yasir for 25.
Azhar Ali, who had taken two wickets with his part-time spin bowling in 43 previous Tests, doubled his tally with the wickets of Karunaratne and Dhammika Prasad off successive balls.
Karunaratne was stumped as he attempted a big heave and Prasad holed out to Yasir at deep square-leg to reduce Sri Lanka to 248-7.
Dinesh Chandimal was leg-before to Rahat for 24, leaving Tharindu Kaushal (17) and Suranga Lakmal (one) unbeaten at stumps.
Both sides made four changes each for the decider with Pakistan bringing in batsman Shan Masood along with the fresh pace attack.
Skipper Angelo Mathews, the only member of the Sri Lankan side to have played more than 25 tests, was also guilty of poor shot selection, hitting Shah straight to the mid-on fielder.
Brief scores
Sri Lanka - 272/8 (Karunaratne 130, Yasir Shah 4-77)
