Colombo: Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss said he was confident his team can still win the third Test against Pakistan to complete a series whitewash despite trailing by 366 runs after the third day on Wednesday.
Pakistan will resume on 300 for five after Shoaib Malik scored a defiant 106 not out, Misbah-ul-Haq made 65 and Kamran Akmal chipped in with an unbeaten 60.
"We certainly won't be giving up whatever the target is we'll be trying to bat for a long time and score the runs," Bayliss told reporters.
"It's not impossible to bat on this wicket as they guys showed today," he added.
"It will start to take a little more turn in the next couple of days but we've got some quality players who have scored big runs on these types of wickets."
Bayliss said Sri Lanka were disappointed by their batting after being dismissed for 233 in the first innings.
"We could have scored more runs and the boys in the dressing room are disappointed they couldn't score more runs," he said.
"The batters are all striking the ball well and playing nicely but the difference between this series so far and in the last couple of years is that they haven't gone on to make the big scores.
"They'll be looking to turn that around in the second innings. It's not a real concern we know they are quality players."