Colombo: On the third day in Colombo, Pakistan's second and final Test match against Sri Lanka, Abdullah Shafique led the way as they increased their lead.

His first double century was the highlight of the batting effort, which also included centuries from Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel as the visitors kept causing devastation on Sri Lanka.

The hosts didn't help themselves by bowling poorly, allowing too many boundaries to be leaked. Although the surface helps spin a little bit, Sri Lanka's bowlers lacked discipline.

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When it came to accuracy, even the seamers couldn't keep up with Shafique and company. Pakistan's scoring rate was quick, adding more than 400 runs in the day.

The visitors kept up their aggressive batting style from earlier in the series, which placed tremendous pressure on Sri Lanka, who was already defending a very low total.

Both Shakeel and captain Babar Azam received starts but failed to capitalize on them by scoring more points. However, they were able to add large partnerships with Shafique, who left and continued on his own merry ways.

Along with his beautiful strokeplay, Shafique's unchanging calm and good technique have been the highlight of his innings.

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While other batters around him occasionally lost focus, Shafique didn't until possibly the final session, when he was perhaps pardoned for a few overly aggressive strokes as Pakistan looked to accelerate.

Shafique was eliminated by Sri Lanka thanks to a careless shot, but Salman and Mohammad Rizwan, who had replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed due to a concussion, kept the momentum rolling despite Shafique's removal. The pair strengthened Pakistan's position in the match as the lead grew closer to 400 runs.

Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya were the only wicket-takers for Sri Lanka thus far in the innings, but even they were unable to stop the flow of runs.

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