Seamer Nuwan Kulasekera's eight wickets in the match and spinner Rangana Herath's maiden five-wicket haul helped Sri Lanka to their first home Test series victory against Pakistan as the hosts won the second Test by seven wickets with two days to spare yesterday.

Needing 171 runs to win, Sri Lanka reached the target for the loss of just three wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Sri Lanka won the first match by 50 runs in Galle last week.

Sri Lanka hadn't won a Test series against Pakistan at home in five previous attempts.

Opener Malinda Warnapura set up the win for the hosts with a brisk 54 off 56 balls, his seventh Test half-century. He was caught behind by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal off seam bowler Abdur Rauf after hitting seven fours and a six.

His partner, Tharanga Paranavitana, departed earlier for 17 bowled by spin bowler Saeed Ajmal.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara was caught by Misbah-ul-Haq at slip off spin bowler Shoaib Malik for 46.

Mesmerising spell

Earlier, Herath bowled a mesmerising spell in the post-lunch session to steal the momentum as Pakistan lost their last eight second innings wickets for just 26 runs, squandering the contribution of Fawad Alam, who struck 168.

The visitors were well placed on 294-2 at lunch on the third day but crumbled to 320 all out in their second innings.

"It was interesting to think of the Test match when they were in such a position, they could have gone on to dominate. A false stroke let us into the middle order with two bowlers doing a fantastic job," Sangakkara said.

"Today, it was a case where everything went our way."

Kulasekera complemented Herath with four wickets and finished with a match haul of 8-58 to share the player of the match title with Pakistan's Alam.

Sangakkara's decision to hand Herath the second new ball soon after lunch produced immediate results when Mohammad Yousuf was trapped lbw for six.

Misbah made just three before he was out lbw to Kulasekera.

Six-hour stint

Alam was caught by Warnapura off Herath after spending more than six hours at the crease. He faced 259 balls and hit 15 boundaries and a six.

Malik, Pakistan's top-scorer in the first innings, was bowled for six by Herath, who returned 5-99.

Sangakkara said Pakistan has a tendency to crumble under pressure.

"We've always known that about Pakistan," Sangakkara said. "It's just a case of how long we continue to exert pressure on them. I think the key is not to give away too many runs, just to hold them as much as possible until that one crack appears."

Earlier, Alam had joined captain Younis Khan in a 200-run stand for the second wicket to resurrect Pakistan's chances.

Khan was out shortly before lunch for 82, his 21st Test half century, when he attempted a reckless reverse-sweep off a full-toss from part-time offspinner Paranavitana and was caught by wicketkeeper Tillakaratne Dilshan.

His runs came off 152 balls and included seven boundaries. The Pakistani captain's dismissal broke his team's momentum and triggered the collapse.