Pakistan made two changes from the first test, with captain Misbah-ul-Haq returning from his suspension for Mohammand Ayub and Aizaz Cheema coming in for the injured Umar Gul.

Sri Lanka won the toss and surprisingly elected to field and openers Hafeez and Taufeez strode out under not a little pressure, after a poor first test.

Taufeez was particularly aggressive, as he scored a rapid 65 off 74 balls. He was caught behind off Matthews. Jayawardene the keeper was standing up to the stumps and Taufeeq, who had dispatched similar deliveries to the boundary in the previous overs, walked, leaving Pakistan 78/1.

Azhar Ali joined Hafeez in the middle and the batsmen batted through to the lunch session with no real issues.


Lunch Session: Pakistan 94/1, Azhar Ali 8*, Mohammad Hefeez 20*

The post-lunch session saw Mohammad Hafeez take control, as he plundered 85 runs off just 98 balls of some hapless Sri Lankan bowling.

Hafeez has been a man under pressure as he's registered numerous ducks in all forms of cricket over the last few months, the pressure of captaining the side further exacerbating the situation.

However, batsmen out of form often have two choices - to graft or to hit their way to form. Hafeez chose the latter and his natural game shone though as he completed his century before tea.

He was offered a slice of luck when caught down the legside off Matthews, who was found to have overstepped by the umpires. Luck is usually in short supply for batsmen out of form and perhaps provided an indication of the positivity with which Hafeez had responded to his recent slump.

Azhar Ali batted in a typically sedate fashion, supporting Hafeez and ensuring Sir Lanka couldn't open up an end for their bowler.

Tea: Pakistan 217/1, Mohammad Hafeez 105*, Azhar Ali 45*

The final session saw Pakistan edge closer to their highest second wicket partnership ever of 291, as Azhar and Hafeez took total control.

The day ended with the partnership on 256.

Hafeez also breezed past his highest test score, and will be looking to go past his highest first-class score of 180.

However all eyes will be on Azhar Ali tomorrow, as he is only 8 away from a second test century and has previously shown nervousness approaching three figures.

334/1 was also the second highest score by a Pakistan side on the first day of the test and will be aiming to captialise on this dominant start in their bid to restore parity in the test series and avoid losing captain Misbah's unbeated record in the seven series played at the helm.

End of Play: Pakistan 334/1, Azhar Ali 92*, Mohammad Hafeez 172*



Teams
Sri Lanka: 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Tharanga Paranavitana, 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Suraj Randiv, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Nuwan Pradeep.

Pakistan: 1 Taufeeq Umar, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Abdur Rehman, 9 Saeed Ajmal, 10 Aizaz Cheema, 11 Junaid Khan.