Sri Lanka still have an exceedingly slim chance of winning the game, thanks to a surface that seems likely to take significant turn on Thursday morning. But Pakistan's excellent catching has meant that Sri Lanka have only 130 to defend.

"I think fielding is the reason why we're in this situation in this Test," Nawaz said. "We dropped too many catches. We would have got them out for 300 in the first innings if we'd held our catches.

"In the second innings a couple of half-chances went Pakistan's way and they held on to it. That also had an impact on us. Fielding's crucial and has always been crucial. It's been disappointing, the standard of fielding we've displayed."

Imam had magicked up a wicket in the first innings as well, Samarawickrama the victim, again caught at short leg. This time the chance had gone high above Imam's head, but he leapt up to snaffle it in the dying stages of the first day.

"We had camps before we came here, and our main focus was our fielding," he said. "We prepared really well for it, and that's paying off now. Catches win matches is something we've heard since I was a child. When you take these kinds of catches, it will make a difference in the game."

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, had dropped Saud Shakeel twice during his 208 not out - both pretty straightforward chances. Nishan Madushka had grassed one at leg slip to reprieve Shakeel on 93. When Shakeel top-edged a slog sweep on 139, Mathews made good ground to get to it on the deep-midwicket boundary but shelled that catch as well.

There was, in addition, the missed stumping of Naseem Shah in the first innings - Samarawickrama the culprit on that occasion. Shakeel and Shah would add another crucial 26 to their outstanding ninth-wicket stand before he was dismissed.