A responsible 50-run partnership between night-watchman Abdur Rauf and captain Younis Khan helped Pakistan reach 120-4 at lunch on Sunday's second day of the first test against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan resumed the second day at 15-2 but Rauf and Khan prevented a slide with their patient batting and the match was evenly poised at the interval.
At lunch Mohammad Yousaf (30 not out) and Misbah-ul-Haq (16 not out) were batting in an unbroken 40-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Rauf, making his test debut, belied his lack of experience, making 31 before nicking seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekera to wicketkeeper Tillakaratne Dilshan with the total on 55.
Debutant Sri Lanka seamer Anjelo Mathews then dismissed Khan (25) via a catch to Dilshan, claiming his first test wicket and leaving the visitors on a precarious 80-4 before Yousaf and Misbah steadied.
Kulasekera returned the best bowling figures with 2-25 while left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara and Mathews bagged a wicket each.
On the first day, Pakistan's three debutant bowlers _ Mohammad Aamer, Rauf and Saeed Ajmal _ held Sri Lanka's much-vaunted batting lineup to a modest 292 in the first innings, justifying Khan's call to bowl after winning the toss.
Opener Tharanga Paranavitana top-scored for the host team with 72 runs off 125 balls, hitting 11 fours.
Aamer, 17, returned the best figures for Pakistan with 3-74 while Rauf recorded 2-59. Offspinner Ajmal and Khan also captured two wickets apiece.
Sri Lanka hit back soon with Kulasekera bowling opener Sulman Butt in the second ball of the Pakistani innings and later his partner Thushara trapped Khurram Manzoor lbw for two runs to leave the visitors on 5-2.
The test is the first between the sides since a deadly terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team and its security convoy during a test in Lahore in March.
