Home Cricket National Cricket Karunaratne, Mendis centuries put Sri Lanka in control

Karunaratne, Mendis centuries put Sri Lanka in control

Ireland tour of Sri Lanka 2023

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Sri Lanka vs Ireland - 1st Test - Day 1

Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis slammed excellent centuries as Sri Lanka made 386/4 on day one in the first Test against Ireland in Galle on Sunday.

Reporting from Galle

Karunaratne and Mendis added a record-breaking 281 runs for the second wicket as Sri Lanka used the batting friendly conditions to great effect against an inexperienced, lacklustre Irish bowling attack.

Having won the toss and opted to bat, Karunaratne made a near flawless 179, his 15th Test hundred, fifth in Galle while Mendis scored 140, his 8th ton in Test cricket.

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Lately, skipper Karunaratne have been scoring runs heavily as an opener, probably the best amongst all Test match openers in the world. Since the start of 2021, Karunaratne has now scored six Test hundreds. However, Karunaratne had scored seven fifties in 15 innings since his last hundred against India in 2022. Therefore, there was hunger and determination to get that three-figure mark on how he went about his business throughout the innings.

He scored only 7 fours before reaching the hundred but managed to score 8 more fours in his 235-ball marathon knock. He fell in the last half-hour of play, whilst going for an expansive drive off Mark Adair.

Mendis hit his first Test century in 12 games. His last hundred came against Zimbabwe at Harare in January 2020. Mendis’ 8th Test hundred ended when he was caught plumb in front off George Dockrell while attempting a sweep. His knock had 18 fours and 1 six. Soon after Mendis fell, experienced Angelo Mathews too perished without troubling the scores. Ireland managed to take 3 scalps in the third and final session but gave away 141 runs. Dinesh Chandimal and the night watchman Prabath Jayasuriya remained unbeaten till stumps.

>> Photos – Sri Lanka vs Ireland | 1st Test | Day 1

In the first session, rookie Nishan Madushka, opening the batting for the first time, looked good but got a delivery that bounced more than he expected and nicked behind for 29. From thereon, it was the Karunaratne-Mendis show as runs came at a brisk rate.

Karunaratne and Mendis also broke many partnership records at the venue. Bangladesh duo, Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim held the previous best partnership for any wicket at Galle – 267 runs in 2018. Shikhar Dhawan and Chesteshwar Pujara had the record for the second wicket in Galle, 253 runs in 2017.

Earlier, Sri Lanka included two frontline seamers and two specialist spinners. Wicket-keeper batter Sadeera Samarawickrama made a comeback to the Test team after 2017 whilst Ireland made one change from their previous Test against Bangladesh earlier this month, adding left-arm spinner George Dockrell for seamer Graham Hume.

Sri Lanka – 386/4 (88) Dimuth Karunaratne 179, Kusal Mendis 140, Nishan Madushka 29, Curtis Campher 1/44.

Result


Sri Lanka
591/6 (131)

Ireland
143/10 (52.3) & 168/10 (54.1)

Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Nishan Madushka c Lorcan Tucker b Curtis Campher 29 48 4 0 60.42
Dimuth Karunaratne c Lorcan Tucker b Mark Adair 179 235 15 0 76.17
Kusal Mendis lbw b George Dockrell 140 193 18 1 72.54
Angelo Mathews c Lorcan Tucker b Ben White 0 3 0 0 0.00
Dinesh Chandimal not out 102 155 12 0 65.81
Prabath Jayasuriya lbw b Curtis Campher 16 23 3 0 69.57
Dhananjaya de Silva lbw b Andy McBrine 12 16 3 0 75.00
Sadeera Samarawickrama not out 104 114 11 0 91.23


Extras 9 (b 4 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0)
Total 591/6 (131 Overs, RR: 4.51)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Mark Adair 24.3 3 95 1 3.91
Curtis Campher 21 2 84 2 4.00
Andy McBrine 40 2 162 1 4.05
Ben White 22 0 119 1 5.41
George Dockrell 21.3 0 112 1 5.26
Harry Tector 2 0 12 0 6.00
Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
James McCollum b Prabath Jayasuriya 35 85 5 0 41.18
Murray Commins b Vishwa Fernando 0 1 0 0 0.00
Andy Balbirnie c Nishan Madushka b Vishwa Fernando 4 4 1 0 100.00
Harry Tector c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya 34 59 0 1 57.63
Curtis Campher c Ramesh Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya 0 2 0 0 0.00
Peter Moor c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Prabath Jayasuriya 14 29 2 0 48.28
Lorcan Tucker lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya 45 73 7 0 61.64
George Dockrell lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya 2 24 0 0 8.33
Andy McBrine lbw b Ramesh Mendis 7 35 1 0 20.00
Mark Adair st Sadeera Samarawickrama b Prabath Jayasuriya 0 2 0 0 0.00
Ben White not out 0 3 0 0 0.00


Extras 2 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 2, w 0, pen 0)
Total 143/10 (52.3 Overs, RR: 2.72)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Asitha Fernando  5 2 9 0 1.80
Vishwa Fernando 9 2 38 2 4.22
Prabath Jayasuriya 23 10 52 7 2.26
Ramesh Mendis 14.3 3 40 1 2.80
Dhananjaya de Silva 1 0 4 0 4.00


Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
James McCollum c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya 8 28 0 0 28.57
Murray Commins c Ramesh Mendis b Vishwa Fernando 0 3 0 0 0.00
Andy Balbirnie c Dhananjaya de Silva b Vishwa Fernando 6 16 1 0 37.50
Harry Tector run out (Sadeera Samarawickrama) 42 95 4 0 44.21
Lorcan Tucker lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya 6 10 1 0 60.00
Peter Moor c Nishan Madushka b Ramesh Mendis 0 5 0 0 0.00
Curtis Campher c Nishan Madushka b Ramesh Mendis 30 73 5 0 41.10
George Dockrell lbw b Ramesh Mendis 32 54 6 0 59.26
Andy McBrine c Kusal Mendis b Ramesh Mendis 10 11 2 0 90.91
Mark Adair not out 23 29 3 0 79.31
Ben White lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya 1 2 0 0 50.00


Extras 10 (b 5 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0)
Total 168/10 (54.1 Overs, RR: 3.1)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Prabath Jayasuriya 24.1 6 56 3 2.32
Vishwa Fernando 4 2 3 2 0.75
Ramesh Mendis 20 1 76 4 3.80
Asitha Fernando  3 0 15 0 5.00
Dhananjaya de Silva 3 0 10 0 3.33