Mathews hit six boundaries and a six during his unbeaten knock of 77

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews scored an unbeaten 77 as his side built a commanding lead on the third day of the third Test against Pakistan.

Starting out the day on 209/9, Pakistan only made six more runs before Imran Khan was clean bowled by Tharindu Kaushal for a duck, leaving wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed stranded on 78, which came off 104 balls and included six boundaries.

Kaushal, Nuwan Pradeep and Dhammika Prasad picked up three wickets apiece.

With a lead of 63 in hand after having mustered 278 in their first innings, Sri Lanka got off to a horrible start as they lost Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne in quick succession.

Mathews and Upul Tharanga managed to somewhat stem the bleeding with their 45-run partnership before Thranga was caught by Azhar Ali at short leg off the bowling of Yasir Shah for 48.

Mathews and Jehan Mubarak kept the runs flowing with an 81-run stand, during which Mathews brought up his half-century, before Mubarak was also caught by Ali at short leg off the bowling of Shah for 35.

Despite losing Mubarak, Sri Lanka continued to push ahead as Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal amassed an unbeaten 67-run partnership before the umpires brought play to an end earlier than expected due to bad light.

Mathews finished on 77 off 177 balls, which included six boundaries and a six, while Chandimal remained undefeated on 39 off 47 deliveries, which included five boundaries.

Shah and Rahat Ali snapped up two wickets apiece, while Ehsan Adil claimed one.

Sri Lanka ended day three on 228/5 and will continue batting tomorrow at 10:00 local time or 04:30 GMT.