Rangana Herath rattled through Pakistan’s top order on his way to surpassing the 250-wicket mark to put Sri Lanka on top at the close of Day 2 in the second Test in Colombo on Friday.

The 36-year-old left-arm bowler grabbed five wickets as Pakistan, replying to Sri Lanka’s first-innings total of 320, were reduced to 140-5 after tea on the second day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

The sixth-wicket pair of Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed stemmed the rot with a 93-run stand that lifted the tourists to 244-6 by stumps, still trailing by 76 runs with four wickets in hand.

Shafiq became Herath’s 251st victim, bowled for 42 just before stumps, but Sarfraz remained unbeaten on a fighting 66 in a match the tourists must win to level the two-match series.