Galle: Leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed a career-best seven for 76 as Pakistan stunned Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the first Test, here, at the Galle International Stadium, on Sunday, to take the lead in the three-match series.
Yasir spun a web around the Sri Lankan batsmen to skittle them for a paltry 206 in their second innings just before tea on the fifth and final day. Set a victory target of 90, Pakistan raced home in just 11.2 overs with Mohammed Hafeez unbeaten on 46 and Ahmed Shehzad not out on 43.
It was Pakistan's first Test win in Sri Lanka since the eight-wicket triumph in Kandy back in 2006. The second Test starts at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Thursday.
Pakistan's remarkable recovery from 96 for five in the first innings came after the entire first day's play had been washed out with just 64 overs bowled on the second day. Opener Dimuth Karunaratne top-scored with 79, Lahiru Thirimanne made 44 and and Dinesh Chandimal was last man out for 38, but the rest of the batsmen had no clue against Pakistan's incisive bowling.
The 29-year-old Yasir ripped through the batting line-up as Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for only 39 runs. They took their overnight score of 63 for two to 144 for four by lunch, before a further six wickets fell on a dramatic afternoon session in front of some 1,000 home fans.
The hosts lost night-watchman Dilruwan Perera off the first ball of the day, clean-bowled by Yasir, but the left-handed pair of Karunaratne and Thirimanne put on 69 runs for the fourth wicket.
With the hosts just 15 runs ahead, left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz had Thirimanne taken low at first slip by Younis Khan to keep the interest alive during the lunch break. Sri Lanka suffered a massive blow off the second ball after resumption when captain Angelo Mathews was controversially given out caught at short leg by TV umpire Chris Gaffaney.
The New Zealander upheld the decision of on-field umpire Richard Illingworth, who had ruled that the batsman was caught at short-leg off Yasir even though replays proved inconclusive on whether the ball had at all come off the bat.
Mathews, who had called for a review as soon as the umpire raised his finger, was visibly furious as he returned to the pavilion. Neither Hot Spot nor the Snickometer is part of the Decision Review System for the series.
Karunaratne's patience after a vigil of more than four hours at the crease ran out when he attempted a big hit off Yasir, missed the line and was smartly stumped by an agile Sarfraz Ahmed to make it 167 for six.
It soon became 175 for seven as Kithuruwan Vithanage swept a flighted ball off Zulfiqar Babar straight to square-leg, giving Yasir his second haul of five wickets or more in an eight-Test career so far.
