Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis put together 129 runs for the 2nd wicket for Sri Lanka, before heavy rains forced an early end to play on day 3 of the 2nd Test against Ireland in Galle.
Earlier in the day, Dimuth Karunaratne made his fastest Test ton, reaching the mark in 116 deliveries as Sri Lanka continued to score at well over 4 runs an over. The left-hander was the dominant partner early on in the day, looking to take on the bowlers as Madushka took a few overs to get going.
The Sri Lankan skipper would be disappointed in himself, as he looked good to get another big ton but fell in the over before lunch playing a hook. Curtis Campher, who was brought on in the last half an hour before lunch, used the short ball to good effect, hitting Karunaratne right on the badge of his helmet earlier in the over, which seemed to shake the batter up a bit and brought about a lapse in concentration.
Nishan Madushka meanwhile delivered on his promise, bringing up his maiden Test ton with a six over mid-wicket off part-timer Harry Tector. The right-hander took some time to settle in, but played with flair in the latter part of the 1st session to race to his century just before the break.
He looked just as good post-lunch, except for an ill-judged late cut, which was put down by Andy Balbirnie at slip off the bowling of Andy McBrine. Madushka was on 131 at that point and closed out the day on 149.
Alongside Karunaratne, he became a part of the history books, putting together the highest opening stand for Sri Lanka in Galle – 228; the previous record was 193 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu.
Sri Lanka will be gutted by the loss of overs, which in total have amounted to 47, with 15 lost yesterday and 32 today. At the rate they were scoring today, they would have been looking at a 30-50-run lead by the end of the day’s play, giving them a chance of forcing a result on day 4 and 5, which is looking less likely now, particularly given how well the pitch has held up so far.
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 | |
