SL in command at the end of day two
Sri Lanka maintained its upper-hand on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan after Muttiah Muralidaran dismissed opener Salman Butt to leave the hosts at 44-1, still needing 445 runs to avoid the follow-on.
This was after the Lankan skipper, Mahela Jayawardena, and Thilan Samaraweera created a new world record for the fourth wicket in Tests with a stand of 437 runs.
In the process, they eclipsed the previous world record of England's Peter May and Colin Cowdrey, who got 411 against the West Indies at Edgbaston in 1957.
Pakistan lost one wicket and scored 44 runs in reply to Sri Lanka’s mammoth first innings total of 644-7.
Debutant Khurram Manzoor was unbeaten on 18 while newly appointed captain Younus Khan was yet to score.
"Our strategy will be to wait for the loose ball and try to play a longer innings and stay at the wicket," Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said.
Jayawardena, who also shared in the world record partnership for any wicket - 624 against South Africa in 2006 - scored 240 while Samaraweera made 231 to notch his maiden double century.
Jayawardena - leading Sri Lanka in a series for the last time as he will step down after the second Test at Lahore - was finally out to a brilliant diving catch by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal from a mistimed sweep off Shoaib Malik's off-spin.
It prompted a sudden rush of wickets as Samaraweera - bowled by leg-spinner Danish Kaneria (3-170) - went in the next over and Malik found a thin edge off Tillakaratne Dilshan's (0) bat in the last over before tea as Pakistan claimed three wickets for no runs.
Jayawardena, who was dropped three times on the first day, hit 32 fours and faced 423 balls.
Samaraweera hit 31 boundaries and faced 318 balls in his composed and chanceless knock, with the Pakistan bowlers getting little aid from a placid National Stadium track.
Sri Lanka declared half an hour into the last session after posting its best ever Test total against Pakistan. Its previous best was 528 at Lahore during the Asian Test championship match in 2002.
It was the eighth highest partnership of all time and the second highest in Pakistan.
Samaraweera and Jayawardena, who joined with the total on 177-3 when Kumar Sangakkara's wicket fell in the second session on Saturday, punished the loose deliveries and played some attractive drives on both sides of the wicket in their marathon seven and a half hour partnership.
"I don't believe in making excuses," Alam said of Pakistan conceding 406 runs on day one and his bowlers taking only three wickets.
"It's a fact that we didn't play well yesterday but here it's a challenge for us and we should accept it."
The game has, so far, been a difficult one for Pakistan, playing its first Test in 14 months, and for Younus Khan, who has taken over as captain.
