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Left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Aamer claimed three wickets in an outstanding post-lunch spell to leave Pakistan chasing just 168 for victory in the opening test against Sri Lanka on Monday.

Pakistan bowled out the hosts for 217 and then finished the third day on 71 for two -- just 97 runs shy of their victory target having lost the wickets of Khurram Manzoor (15) and Younis Khan (3).

Opener Salman Butt was unbeaten on 28 with first-innings centurion Mohammad Yousuf on 12 with the tourists closing in on a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The 17-year-old Aamer followed up on his impressive first innings performance (3-74) by capturing the key wickets of Tharanga Paranavitana (49), Mahela Jayawardene (0) and Kumar Sangakkara (14) as the tourists took control.

Aamer went wicketless during a rain-shortened morning session but swung the ball both ways in the afternoon to reduce Sri Lanka to 101-5 after they had appeared comfortable on 86-2.

The debut-making teenager finished with figures of 3-38 from 11 overs and a match haul of six for 112.

In the morning after a delayed start, opener Malinda Warnapura lasted just two balls in the morning before edging an Umar Gul delivery to slip.

However, Paranavitana steadied the innings in partnership with Rangana Herath, the pair adding 68 for the second wicket.

Paranavitana, Sri Lanka's first-innings top scorer, had batted beautifully for his 49 from 58 deliveries with five boundaries before edging a quick outswinger to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal.

Former skipper Jayawardene, who averages over 80 at this seaside venue, was also caught behind off a delivery that nipped off the seam towards the slips.

Captain Sangakkara pushed loosely at another outswinger and Akmal completed a fine diving catch in front of first slip.

Younus Khan also chipped in with vital wickets with his medium pace, first trapping nightwatchman Herath (15) in the morning and then dismissing the in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan (22), who steered a full-length delivery to gully.

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal struck in the final half-hour of the afternoon session as the well-set Thilan Samaraweera, who had stroked 34 from 67 balls, was caught at slip off his doosra.

Ajmal also polished off the tail, trapping Nuwan Kulasekara lbw for 25 and bowling last-man Ajantha Mendis for one to finish with three for 34 from 12.2 overs.

Pakistan's openers made a steady start with a 36-run stand before Mendis had Manzoor caught at slip immediately after a drinks break and ball change.

Next over Mathews pinned Khan lbw with a delivery that seamed-back sharply to leave Pakistan 39 for two.

Yousuf and Butt negotiated the final tense overs to leave Pakistan with an excellent chance of winning on Tuesday.

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee's chances of leading the attack in the first Ashes Test starting Wednesday at Cardiff looked doubtful as he suffered a rib-injury during a tour-game against the England Lions.

The 32-year-old was in great touch during the game against the Lions but after the match he complained of pain on the left side of his rib-cage. He will undergo a scan and his participation in Cardiff is doubtful.

'He has a sore left rib, but we won't know the extent of it until the scans are back,' an Australian team spokesman was quoted as saying in the English media. 'We're in a holding pattern until then.'

Lee is coming back from an ankle injury and his last Test was back in December when South Africa romped to a nine-wicket win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

HOW ABSURD would it be if members of Indian team were asked to pay their way when they went abroad to represent the country? Well, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) believes there is nothing wrong in asking its players to pay for the privilege of representing their team on tours to Australia and England.

The DDCA is taking an under-22 team to Australia and an under-19 team to England on official tours and players who can afford it have been asked to fork out Rs 1 lakh to defray expenses.

"It's an official tour, 50% of which is being paid by players and 50% has been taken care of by DDCA," said Sunil Dev, DDCA Sports Secretary. "We want them to pay because we thought certain things given free are not good. Still six players have not been charged a penny."

The Board of Control for Cricket in India would not comment on the DDCA's decision to charge players. "This is a matter of a state board so BCCI can't comment on this," Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty told HT.

The players themselves don't seem perturbed. "My parents are employed and we were in a position to pay, so we did," said a player who will be touring Australia. Paying to be part of an official tour is certainly not the norm. "We have never paid anything while representing the board," said former Delhi and India all-rounder Madan Lal.

INDIAN CRICKET League players looking to turn out in the Indian Premier League have to wait a bit longer before they can sign contracts with franchisees. Even though a few IPL teams are keen to sign up some of them, they can't sign on the dotted line yet.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will put in place a "system" and the players will become eligible to join IPL teams only after going through it. IPL chairman Lalit Modi has already informed the teams that they aren't allowed to complete any contract with former ICL players until further communication.

"Yes we received an e-mail from Mr Modi on Thursday in which he has instructed us not to pen deals with these players," said the CEO of a high-profile team. It's not clear at the moment what condition, if any, the board has in mind. "Mr Modi hasn't specified what criteria these players have to fulfil," the official said.

Even the BCCI isn't willing to disclose its plans. "It's correct that they can't sign contracts now. We will formulate a system and these players will be allowed to sign only after that," the BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan told HT.

"Whatever the system is, it will be transparent. We are in no hurry to finalise it since we have lots of time to address the issue (the next IPL is scheduled for March 2010)," was all that Srinivasan had to say about the "system".