Mohammad Yousuf marked his return to official fold with a half-century - and counting - to lift Pakistan from a precarious 80 for 4 at the first drinks break. His 139-run partnership with Misbah-ul-Haq had put Pakistan in a state of relative control by the end of the middle session.
Neither Misbah nor Yousuf looked like getting out in what was the most assured partnership of the match - except for a bat-pad catch off Yousuf in Rangana Herath's second over, which escaped the umpire's eye, after he was finally brought on to bowl in the 48th over of the innings.
Apart from that blip, Yousuf and Misbah provided the best batting of the match so far, negotiated Ajantha Mendis without incident, and took Pakistan towards Sri Lanka's total at a fair pace.
Such ease was not always the case for Pakistan. Their overnight batsmen, Younis Khan and nightwatchman Abdur Rauf, never looked in. Nevertheless they frustrated Sri Lanka for one hour. Playing and missing, prodding and nudging, they survived and put together a sizeable partnership. It was Rauf who, surprisingly, took the lead. By the time Younis cut Kulasekara for three in the sixth over - his first confident shot of the innings - he had faced the same number of deliveries as Rauf, 32, but scored 10 as opposed to Rauf's 19. Rauf showed the tendency to play inside the line of the ball, but the fatal edge came only after the two had added 50 for the third wicket, 31 of which Rauf contributed.
Just before the first hour turned over, Kumar Sangakkara brought Angelo Mathews on and Younis played at a wide delivery to end an unconvincing innings. Mathews became the second debutant in the match to take a wicket in his first over, but that was the last bit of joy Sri Lanka were to have in a long time.
Yousuf and Misbah were more confident and comfortable than the men they replaced. Yousuf did have three shouts against him early on in the piece, but wasn't close to getting out to any. He looked to counter Thushara's swing by moving outside the line of off stump, and a couple of flashy shots there got him boundaries too. Misbah looked the most comfortable batsman on this pitch. He was neither beaten nor keen to hit the bowlers off rhythm. A statement of intent was issued to Mendis, though, when Misbah read a googly early and lofted him over midwicket.
Mendis didn't look like he had settled into any sort of rhythm, either side of lunch, and that proved crucial, with the pitch easing out and the fast bowlers tiring down. It was old-fashioned Test cricket from the Pakistan batsmen, who looked in no apparent hurry, and without taking any risks set the bowlers off their game. Mendis was hit for back-to-back boundaries to facilitate Yousuf's way to a fifty. By then, Misbah had reached just 26 off 83.
But post a 38-minute rain break, which extended the middle session by half an hour, even Misbah opened his shoulders. Herath, unfortunate not to get Yousuf, was lofted repeatedly to cow corner. One swivel pull off the same bowler later, Misbah reached his half-century. Herath got his aggressor seven minutes before tea, making sure Pakistan were not yet in a state to impose themselves.
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