Younis Khan hit an unbeaten half-century in the company of skipper Misbah-ul Haq to help Pakistan recover in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday.
The pair batted through the afternoon session of the opening day to put on an unbroken stand of 84 for the fourth wicket and steer the tourists from a shaky 56-3 to 140-3 by tea.
Khan, playing his 90th Test, returned unbeaten on 77 with five boundaries and a six. Misbah was on a typically dour 22 off 87 balls.
Khan was reprieved by the Decision Review System (DRS) when he was on 59 after umpire Bruce Oxenford had declared him leg-before to off-spinner Dilruwan Perera.
Television replays showed the ball passing over the stumps.
The partnership between Pakistan’s two elder statesmen came after the morning session belonged to Sri Lanka with three quick wickets in the bag.
Seamer Dhammika Prasad removed both openers cheaply to make it 19-2 by the sixth over before a partial recovery helped the tourists move to 59-3 by lunch.
Prasad, working up a tidy pace on a pitch that afforded bounce and movement, bowled Ahmed Shehzad off the inside edge with his third delivery after being hit for a boundary off the first.
The seamer then trapped Khurram Manzoor leg-before in his third over, but Azhar Ali and Khan settled in to put on 37 as the wicket eased out under the mild sun.
Ali, who hit five boundaries in his fluent 30, failed to last till lunch as he fell to a good delivery from left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, which turned and clipped the off-stump.
