Ramesh Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya both picked up a wicket apiece in the 22-over go Sri Lanka had at the Irishmen on day 4 of the 2nd Test between the sides in Galle.
At stumps on day 4, Ireland were 54/2, trailing by 158 runs.
Sri Lanka’s approach in the 1st session was baffling, with Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis going at just 3.7 runs an over, when the expectation was that Sri Lanka would try to get as many runs ahead as possible in as little time in order to force a result in the game, with bad weather around.
Madushka was particularly slow after getting to his 150, perhaps with thoughts of a maiden double-hundred on his mind and it came in due time, making him just the 2nd Sri Lankan and third batter ever to convert their maiden century to a double century.
He was dismissed right after lunch but Kusal Mendis kept going, smashing his own maiden double century. The right-hander hit 11 sixes in his innings of 245, going past the Sri Lankan record for most sixes in an innings, set by Kumar Sangakkara (9). He was dismissed going for his 12th 6, which would have equalled the all-time record for sixes in a Test innings, set by Wasim Akram back in 1996.
The 268-run partnership between Madushka and Mendis also made this the 1st time the 1st and 2nd wicket partnerships have crossed the 200-run mark in Tests for Sri Lanka.
As if they hadn’t done enough damage, Angelo Mathews also cashed in on the brilliant batting conditions and docile bowling attack, hitting his 15th Test Century off 144 deliveries as Sri Lanka declared half an hour into the post-tea session.
The Irish bowlers toiled hard, particularly Andrew McBrine, who received little support from his spin-bowling teammates Ben White and debutant Matthew Humphreys on the other end. The off-spinner bowled 57 overs and picked up 1 wicket for 191, while White and Humphreys both went for 270 in 44 overs, with no wickets.
Ireland had a tricky 22-over period to negotiate before stumps, but could not survive without casualties as James McCollum dragged one onto his stumps off Mendis and then Moor was neatly caught by Mathews at short-extra cover off Jayasuriya’s bowling.
A total of 98 overs are scheduled to be bowled tomorrow, with the day’s play supposed to start at 9.45am.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James McCollum | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Prabath Jayasuriya | 10 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 35.71 |
| Peter Moor | lbw b Asitha Fernando | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 71.43 |
| Andy Balbirnie | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Ramesh Mendis | 95 | 163 | 14 | 0 | 58.28 |
| Harry Tector | c Dinesh Chandimal b Prabath Jayasuriya | 18 | 44 | 3 | 0 | 40.91 |
| Paul Stirling | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Asitha Fernando | 103 | 181 | 9 | 4 | 56.91 |
| Lorcan Tucker | b Vishwa Fernando | 80 | 106 | 10 | 0 | 75.47 |
| Curtis Campher | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Prabath Jayasuriya | 111 | 229 | 15 | 2 | 48.47 |
| Andy McBrine | c & b | 35 | 59 | 3 | 1 | 59.32 |
| Graham Hume | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 6 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 26.09 |
| Matthew Humphreys | c & b | 7 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 30.43 |
| Ben White | not out | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 22 (b 9 , lb 11 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 492/10 (145.3 Overs, RR: 3.38) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vishwa Fernando | 24 | 1 | 92 | 2 | 3.83 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 22 | 4 | 78 | 2 | 3.55 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 58.3 | 13 | 174 | 5 | 2.98 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 27 | 4 | 108 | 1 | 4.00 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 14 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 1.43 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | lbw b Andy McBrine | 205 | 339 | 22 | 1 | 60.47 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Matthew Humphreys b Curtis Campher | 115 | 133 | 15 | 0 | 86.47 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Matthew Humphreys b Graham Hume | 245 | 291 | 18 | 11 | 84.19 |
| Angelo Mathews | not out | 100 | 114 | 6 | 4 | 87.72 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | not out | 13 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 92.86 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 12 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 70.59 |
| Extras | 14 (b 2 , lb 8 , nb 2, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 704/3 (151 Overs, RR: 4.66) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Hume | 22 | 3 | 87 | 1 | 3.95 | |
| Andy McBrine | 57 | 8 | 191 | 1 | 3.35 | |
| Curtis Campher | 20 | 1 | 101 | 1 | 5.05 | |
| Matthew Humphreys | 10 | 0 | 67 | 0 | 6.70 | |
| Ben White | 34 | 1 | 203 | 0 | 5.97 | |
| Harry Tector | 8 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 5.62 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James McCollum | b Ramesh Mendis | 10 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 62.50 |
| Peter Moor | c Angelo Mathews b Prabath Jayasuriya | 19 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 48.72 |
| Andy Balbirnie | c Angelo Mathews b Ramesh Mendis | 46 | 101 | 5 | 0 | 45.54 |
| Harry Tector | b Asitha Fernando | 85 | 189 | 8 | 3 | 44.97 |
| Paul Stirling | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Lorcan Tucker | b Asitha Fernando | 13 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 56.52 |
| Curtis Campher | c Kusal Mendis b Ramesh Mendis | 12 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 36.36 |
| Andy McBrine | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Ramesh Mendis | 10 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 52.63 |
| Graham Hume | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Ramesh Mendis | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Matthew Humphreys | not out | 4 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 12.90 |
| Ben White | b Asitha Fernando | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 2 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 202/10 (77.3 Overs, RR: 2.61) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vishwa Fernando | 6 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 2.50 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 32 | 9 | 88 | 2 | 2.75 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 27 | 6 | 64 | 5 | 2.37 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 11.3 | 3 | 30 | 3 | 2.65 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 | |
