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
| 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 | |
