Thirty for two, and it was always going to be uphill. Imran Nazir, on a comeback trail, was intent on putting a value on his wicket till he got tempted by a short one from Budhika, miscued it and Jayawardene caught the skier on the second attempt. The situation became all the more grave when in the same over Youhana committed hara-kiri by playing a lofted drive, and Muralitharan made no mistake at mid-wicket.

At 65 for four, it seemed beyond Pakistan to make a fist of it. But Inzamam was still there, and till the big man is on the crease, hope is always there. He had already taken boundaries off Budhika and Zoysa, driving and pulling them to the fence with great authority. After the brace of wickets, as if to show it to all concerned who was the boss, he pulled a short one from Chandna to long-on for four . And first ball next over, he jumped out of his crease to greet Muralitharan's induction into the attack by clouting him way back into the stands. Two overs later, Muralitharan had his revenge by getting one past Inzamam, with Kaluwitharana doing a smart bit of stumping.

At the end of 26th over, at 98 for five, Pakistan was in dire straits.

Despite Pakistan's perennial distaste for a chase, 242 on an exceptionally good wicket may be competitive but not really awesome. That is if they somehow could manage to bat in an organised manner.

The Lankan man of the crisis so often, Russell Arnold tried to hold the innings together, and despite Romesh Kaluwitharana's (15, 35 balls, no fours) failure to make an impact, he stuck to the job. He found a perfect foil in Upul Chandana, and the two of them put together a stand of 52 at a fast clip, off 47 deliveries to be precice when Arnold played a false shot to Saqlain Mushtaq to perish at short mid-wicket in the 46th over. His fall brought another collapse at the close as Chandana too perished, giving skipper Waqar a wicket in the penultimate over.

Shoaib Akhtar got Muralitharan, the off-stump bail taking ages to dislodge and Zoysa got himself run out next ball. With four deliveries, Shoaib made a desperate attempt to bowl Sri Lanka out to avoid getting docked a few overs for their atrocious over-rate, but Budhika hung in there and saw out the last delivery of the innings with a single.

At 92 for one at the start of the 16th over, the Lankans were dealt a blow when Shoaib Akhtar had Marwan Atapattu caught behind when he tried to work him towards leg from off and middle stump, and Rashid with his uncanny anticipation doesn’t miss those. Next over Jayasuriya too had almost holed out, when Youhana provided him the reprieve.

By now Razzaq was in his element, reverse swinging the ball with Saqlain Mushtaq keeping things tight at the other end. Bogged down for a while, the free-stroking Mahela Jayawardene tried to cut loose by lifting one over mid-wicket only to see substitute Shoaib Malik at short mid-wicket bringing off a good catch; the late inswing was the undoing of Jayawardene.

The Lankan innings had lost the momentum slightly, and Jayasuriya, all aggression till then, seemed to be anxious to get back the flow of runs. He push-drove at a Razzaq outswinging delivery only to end up offering a simple catch to Rashid Latif. Razzaq has had his tormentor. Jayasuriya’s magnificent knock of 87, off just 78 balls, contained 10 fours and three sixes.

With Jayasuriya gone, Russel Arnold and Romesh Kaluwitharana tried to get a partnership going to steady the innings. At the end of the 30th over, the Lankans had reached 145 for four – quite a few less than they would’ve expected after the blazing start.

The Pakistani bowlers helped Jayasuriya along the way by bowling short and wide to him, and he cut, drove and pulled with great relish, powerfully slicing Younis for a six over point boundary, and then taking two boundaries off two deliveries in Akram's next over, pulling the short one to long-on fence and driving the wide one to the point boundary.

But Akram had his revenge of sorts by sending Sangakkara back with a low full toss which homed on the middle stump like a guided missile. And he may have had Jayasuriya first ball next over too. The Lankan skipper hoicked him towards the square leg fence with Razzaq reacting a trifle slowly or it may have been curtains for Jayasuriya.

It was a costly miss, for Jayasuriya put the Pakistan attack to sword, taking 22 runs off Razzaq in the 15th over, hitting him for four fours and a majestic six.