Imam-ul-Haq smashed an unbeaten 50 as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in the opening test in Galle on Thursday.

The tourists started the last day with 48-3 and lost three more wickets, including captain Babar Azam for 24 off Prabath Jayasuriya, before reaching their goal in the first session.

Haq started the day on 25 and stayed calm with Azam and then left-handed partner Saud Shakeel, who made a quick 30 after his unbeaten 208 in Pakistan’s first innings.

Left-arm spinner Jayasuriya took four wickets, including two on the evening of day four. This gave the home team a glimmer of hope, but Haq stood firm.

Azam came out swinging, hitting a four on the first ball of the day. He played well for 28 balls before Jayasuriya caught him lbw.

Shakeel also went up against the bowlers, but off-spinner Ramesh Mendis caught him behind.

Haq got to his eighth Test fifty before Jayasuriya took another wicket and Agha Salman hit the winning six.

Shakeel stood out because he got his first Test double century. Pakistan’s score of 461 all out and a first-innings lead of 149 helped them win the match, even though it was rained out.

Even though Dhananjaya de Silva batted for 82, Pakistan’s spinners Noman Ali and Abrar Ahmed each took three wickets on Wednesday, which helped bowl out Sri Lanka for 279 runs.

De Silva scored 122 runs in Sri Lanka’s first innings, which totaled 312 runs. The hosts chose to bat first, but Pakistan soon took charge.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, the fastest bowler for Pakistan, took five wickets in his first Test since he hurt his knee a year ago at the same venue.

Monday in Colombo is the start of the second match in the two-Test series.