Ramesh Mendis picked up the 4th 5-wicket haul of his career as Ireland were bowled out for 202, giving Sri Lanka an innings and 10-run win in the 2nd Test between the sides in Galle.
Mendis had come in for some criticism after his performance in the 1st innings, however, bowled with far more control this time around, picking up 4 of the 8 wickets that fell today. It helped that the pitch offered much more assistance for the spinners after 4 days where the bowlers were made to toil hard for rewards.
Asitha Fernando was arguably the bowler of the day for Sri Lanka though, as the quick’s fiery opening spell set the tone for the hosts early in the day. Fernando’s 7 over spell from the Fort end in the 1st session saw Andy Balbirnie having to retire hurt, after he was hit on the grill. The Irish skipper looked shaken and left the field, which opened the doors for Sri Lanka, Prabath Jayasuriya wasting no time to get rid of first innings centurion Paul Stirling to claim his 50th wicket in the very next over.
Jayasuriya thereby became the fastest spinner to reach the mark, getting there in 7 Tests and 13 innings, surpassing West Indian Alf Valentine’s 71-year-old record which stood at 8 Tests.
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Fernando continued to trouble the Irish batters, getting balls to whiz past the head and eventually hitting Harry Tector too on the helmet. He was justly rewarded with the wicket of Lorcan Tucker, as the wicket-keeper bat was stuck on the body and saw the ball ricochet back onto the stumps.
He was brought back to deal with the tail and despite some strong resistance from Harry Tector and Matthew Humphreys, managed to blasted through their defences to ensure that Sri Lanka walked away with an innings win.
The Irish fought hard, particularly Tector, who was impressive in the 1st Test as well. The tall right-hander made 85 before he was bowled playing an expansive drive off Fernando. Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne had had a stern word with the batter just before the delivery as he pulled out just as Fernando was coming into bowl, which seemed to disrupt the Irishman’s concentration. nevertheless, it was a commendable effort from the Irishmen, who scored nearly 700 runs across the Test and came into day 5 with a real chance of holding on for a draw.
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 | |
