Sri Lanka’s top scorer on day two of the third Test Mahela Jayawardene was keen to stress the importance of discipline for the remainder of the game, a quality that has been lacking from both sides in a series that has produced excitement but rarely touched the heights one would expect from two established Test nations in terms of quality.

"Just like the last test we really should have had batted Pakistan out of the game in the first innings. To give the Pakistani’s credit and especially their spinners they bowled with consistency, guile and created pressure. The pitch was however a good one for making runs and we let ourselves down again. The middle order’s failure to build partnerships is becoming a worrying trend," said Jayawardene.

Jayawardene himself looked back to his fluent best at times, getting off the mark with a lovely clip of his legs first ball. Recalled Pakistani leg spinner Danish Kaneria however proved the folly of his non selection in the opening two Tests, by showing what a decisive contribution an attacking leg break bowler can make on the flattest of wickets.

"He bowled very well with a lot of variety and a tight control of his line and length. I do not normally go on the back foot to bowlers of his type and the flipper with which he got me out was a very good delivery, combined with a momentary lack of concentration on my part," the former captain said.

Moments previously Jayewardene had had to call on the physio, but was pleased to announce that it was no more than a twinge in his hamstring, and he took the field when prematurely the Sri Lankans came out to bowl for the second time.

Tilakaratne Dilshan was not so fortunate and after an innings of character and great skill with a cracked finger, had to deal with a nasty blow to the head. The poor man looked like he had just endured a particularly gruelling session in the trenches of the Somme and Jayawardene echoing the thoughts of his team mates was full of praise for the World 20/20 player of the tournament.

"It was a really gutsy effort by Dilshan and shows the strong character we have in our team. He was in a great deal of pain and to go out and bat like that was a very brave effort. The runs he scored could turn out to be vital," said Jayawadene.

The Pakistani spinners highlighted the in-balance of the Sri Lankan attack on a wicket that was turning considerably by lunch on day two and due to the rare luxury of having two Test class keepers in the same team, it was hoped that the multi dimensional Dilshan may turn his arm over in the second innings.

Jayawardene remained bullish about his side’s chances of securing a clean sweep: "The wicket is still good for batting, the turn is slow and if our bowlers can show the skills they have throughout the series we feel that the game is still very much ours to be won. Test Cricket is all about discipline and we must show it over the next few days."