GALLE: Rangana Herath skittled Pakistan with his left-arm spin to hand Sri Lanka a dramatic, 50-run victory in the first cricket Test here on Tuesday.Herath grabbed 4-15 as Pakistan, chasing a modest target of 168, collapsed from a seemingly impregnable 71-2 to 117 all out in their second innings before lunch on the fourth day.
Fast bowler Thilan Thushara and spinner Ajantha Mendis chipped in with two wickets each as a jittery Pakistan lost their last eight batsmen for 46 runs at the Galle International Stadium.
The brilliant win gave Sri Lanka a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series, the first between the two nations since gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in the Pakistani city of Lahore on March 3.
Seven Sri Lankan players were injured and eight local security men were killed in the attack, prompting the sport's governing body to move 2011 World Cup matches out of Pakistan.
Pakistan, who beat Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 final in London last month, now have four days to ponder the loss before the second Test starts at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on July 12.
Herath, who replaced the injured Muttiah Muralitharan for this match, struck twice in the day's second over when he removed the overnight pair of Mohammad Yousuf and Salman Butt in the space of four deliveries.
Yousuf, century-maker in the first innings, was given out leg-before as he padded up to a straight ball from the left-armer that was headed for middle stump.
Left-handed Butt, who looked good while making 28 on Monday, appeared to lose concentration after Yousuf's departure and pulled Herath high to Tharanga Paranavitana at deep square-leg.
Wickets tumbled at regular intervals after that and Herath, later named man of the match, signalled the victory by having Abdur Rauf snapped up at first slip by former captain Mahela Jayawardene.
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