Tea Sri Lanka 378 and 109 for 4 (Mathews 35, Chandimal 16*, Karunaratne 4*, Salman 1-9) lead Pakistan 231 (Salman 62, Imam 32, Ramesh 5-47, Jayasuriya 3-80) by 256 runs
Pakistan removed Sri Lanka’s top four after lunch, clawing back somewhat in a match in which they are well behind, on account of having been bowled out for 231 earlier in the day. They had given up a 147-run first-innings lead, and by tea on the third day, were 256 runs behind Sri Lanka, who had six second-innings wickets in hand.
Mathews had seemed the most fluent of Sri Lanka’s batters in this session, bashing his 11th delivery through the covers, finding boundaries through midwicket and mid-off, and even bludgeoning Nawaz down the ground for a six. All but two of his runs came in front of square, as Pakistan bowled straight at him.
By tea, Chandimal had also hit only one of his 16 runs behind square, and had not hit a boundary off the 48 deliveries he faced. Aside from Hasan Ali, who was clearly struggling for rhythm, Pakistan’s bowlers maintained good discipline on a surface that was still good to bat on.
Mathews’ dismissal, roughly 12 minutes before tea, was perhaps the most controversial moment of the Test so far. Salman thought he had induced a thin outside edge as Mathews pushed forward, but on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena did not agree. Pakistan reviewed the decision, and the merest tremor on Snicko was enough for third umpire Marais Erasmus to overturn the decision.