Leg-spinner Yasir Shah claimed a career-best 7-76 as Pakistan stunned Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the first Test 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.

Pakistan, set a victory target of 90, raced home in 11.2 overs with Mohammad Hafeez unbeaten on 46 and Ahmed Shehzad on 43 at the Galle International Stadium.

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It was Pakistan’s first Test win in Sri Lanka since the eight-wicket triumph in Kandy in 2006. The second Test starts at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Thursday.

Pakistan’s remarkable recovery from 5-96 in the first innings came after the entire first day’s play had been washed out and just 64 overs were 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 folded against Pakistan’s incisive bowling.

The 29-year-old Yasir ripped through the batting as Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for 39 runs after being 5-167 at one stage.

Sri Lanka took their overnight score of 2-63 to 4-144 by lunch, before a further six wickets fell on a dramatic afternoon in front of some 1,000 home fans.

The hosts lost nightwatchman 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 caught 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 skipper Angelo Mathews was controversially given out caught at short leg by TV umpire Chris Gaffaney.

The New Zealander upheld 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 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 or snickometer technology 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 6-167.

It soon became 7-175 as Kithuruwan Vithanage swept a flighted ball to Zulfiqar Babar at square-leg, giving Yasir his second haul of five wickets or more in an eight-Test career.

Dhammika Prasad was stumped off Babar and Rangana Herath holed out in the deep off Yasir, before Chandimal was last man out, stumped off Yasir.