Sri Lanka were 176/5 in their second innings, leading Pakistan by 323 runs at stumps on Day 3 with Dimuth Karunaratne (27) and Dhananjaya de Silva (30) unbeaten on crease.
The With just four wickets in hand at the start of the day, Sri Lanka did well and reduced Pakistan to 191 for 7 after posting 378 on Day 2 at the Galle International Stadium.
Opener Oshada Fernando continued his good form with the bat and along with captain Dimuth Karunaratne ensured that Sri Lanka were off to a comfortable start. The first hour was a quiet one with the hosts reaching 36/0 in 12 overs.
Rain began falling around before the scheduled first ball on day two of the first Test, with gusts blowing in off the coastline.
Though the fielders ended up taking the ball out of Boult's helmet, it had stayed in there long enough for it to be considered dead.
