Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria's five-wicket haul put Pakistan in command on the second day of the final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Kaneria added four wickets in the final session to the one he had claimed just before lunch as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 233 in response to Pakistan's first-innings total of 299.
Sri Lanka struggled throughout and Pakistan could have walked off with a much bigger lead had it not been for battling knocks from Mahela Jayawardene (79) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (44).
Pakistan's openers Khurram Manzoor and Fawad Alam (14 not out) had extended the lead to 82 with a stand of 16 for the first wicket when Rangana Herath produced the breakthrough by bowling Maznoor for two.
The wicket was the 14th to fall in the day and Younus Khan played out one delivery as Pakistan closed on 1-16.
In the morning, the home side's bowlers continued the fine work they had started at the end of the final session on the first day, skittling out Pakistan inside the first 17 minutes of play.
Left-arm paceman Thilan Thushara dismissed Kamran Akmal and last man Saeed Ajmal cheaply to claim his first five-wicket haul of his career.
The 28-year-old had figures of five for 83 from 20.4 overs, while his fast-bowling partner Nuwan Kulasekara finished with three for 47 from 16 overs.
Bowlers, however, continued to hold sway on a track that offered some movement but was thought good for batting.
Sri Lanka began their innings badly with opener Malinda Warnapura being bowled by Umar Gul with the first delivery of the innings.
Sri Lanka slipped further into trouble when fellow opener Tharanga Paranavitana was bowled by part-timer Younus, the batsman shouldering arms to one that came in sharply.
Kumar Sangakkara, driving fluently and batting with confidence, then steadied the innings in the company of Jayawardene.
The Sri Lankan captain began with a superbly-timed square driven boundary on the leg side and accumulated runs at a fair clip, surviving a reprieve en route.
He was dropped by Manzoor at gully, the fielder fumbling a straightforward catch, but was dismissed on the stroke of lunch when umpire Ian Gould upheld a leg-before appeal from Ajmal.
The ball pitched a shade outside leg stump but Gould sent Sangakkara on his way, ending his innings on 45.
Jayawardene struggled against the spinners but it was Thilan Samaraweera who lost the battle first in the post-lunch session, the batsman being cramped by one from Ajmal that span back sharply from outside off.
The delivery knocked out middle stump and left Sri Lanka at a precarious 4-82.
Angelo Mathews, who was dropped on 12 by Akmal, and Jayawardene then revived the side with a 71-run stand for the fifth wicket but that burgeoning partnership was ended by Kaneria.
He dropped one short and drew Mathews forward in defence. The ball flicked the edge and went straight to Misbah-ul-Haq at first slip.
Wickets then tumbled quickly as Chaminda Vaas - batting ahead of Dilshan in order to give him more time to rest an injured finger - was trapped in front by Kaneria, while Nuwan Kulasekara and Herath followed quickly after, the former a victim of Ajmal and the latter falling to Kaneria.
Dilshan then took charge and chipped in with a brave innings. He frustrated Pakistan with a 29-run stand for the last wicket with Thushara, all the while reducing the deficit.
Dilshan, who had relinquished the wicketkeeper gloves in the morning to Sangakkara, then suffered another injury - a nasty cut above the eye when a delivery from Ajmal slipped through the visor.
Dilshan struck two fours and two sixes during his vigil at the crease but his innings was ended when he was caught behind off Kaneria.
That wicket gave the leg-spinner his 13th five-wicket haul in Tests as he finished with figures of 5-62 from 20.3 overs.