Sri Lanka openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka put on 80 quick runs in the first day's final session to unnerve Afghanistan in their one-off Test Friday.
The rapid partnership between Karunaratne (42) and Madushka (36) in the last 14 overs of the day left Sri Lanka trailing by 118 but the tourists wicketless.
They reached stumps in Colombo with a 5.71 run rate, vindicating new captain Dhananjaya de Silva's pledge to pursue an aggressive strategy.
Afghanistan were all out for 198 after tea with left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando taking four wickets and three apiece from spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and medium paceman Asitha Fernando.