After splitting a pair in the last session, Ireland quickly claimed three wickets.
Against Ireland, Sri Lanka scored 386 for 4 (Karunaratne 179, K Mendis 140, and Campher 1-44).
Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne’s partnership sets up Sri Lanka for a big total.
With the help of Kusal Mendis’ 140 runs and Dimuth Karunaratne’s confident 179, Sri Lanka established control of the Test. Their 281-run partnership for the second wicket was the centerpiece of the home team’s commanding first day. On a flat Galle deck, the Ireland bowlers mostly left Karunaratne and Mendis alone, and they also made sure that their progress was quick by smacking 33 fours and a six between them.
Late in the day, Angelo Mathews and those batsmen left Sri Lanka. Although there is still a lot of batting left to do, and the track has yet to take a significant bend, they ended up at 386 for 4, which puts them in position for a considerable total. Ireland might have been in for some difficulty after losing the toss and only taking one wicket in the opening session.
Yet, their bowlers did not wholly perish in Sri Lanka’s oppressive April heat. Ben White, a legspinner, bowled at a rate greater than five per over until taking Mathews’ wicket in the second half of the evening session. George Dockrell, a left-arm spinner who was nearly as expensive, broke the central stand by dismissing Mendis with a delivery that slid on with the arm.
In the morning, Curtis Campher struck with a new ball to get Nishan Madushka out. With the second new ball, Mark Adair got Karunaratne to flash at it and edge it wide for the biggest wicket of the day.
But off-spinner Andy McBrine, who bowled 27 overs while giving up just 107 runs, put in the most effort. He had a rocky beginning, giving up three boundaries in his first 15 deliveries, but he bounced back to bowl some tighter periods. Still, he was repeatedly picked off for singles as Ireland gradually relaxed their fields. All told, 61 of Ireland’s 87 overs were bowled by spinners on the opening day.
While Campher and Adair’s early stretches bothered Madushka, Karunaratne was more or less immediately fluent. He was harsh with length mistakes, sending too-full deliveries through midwicket and pulling short balls equally well. He had already marched to 28 off 32 after the first 11 overs.
Ireland kept him in the closed fields for a short time. They eventually gave him just one choice, especially when the spinners were running. From then on, Karunaratne played flawless, risk-free cricket, scoring runs in every direction.
He was peppered on his favorite deep-midwicket boundary. Yet, as is frequently the case for him, the foundation of his big inning was made up of singles, doubles, and a triple in addition to a single. Even though he had only scored 20 of those runs on boundaries, he reached fifty off the 69th ball he had faced. He earned his sixteenth Test century in a seemingly carefree manner, needing just 70 more deliveries to get the second fifty while only managing two more boundaries during that period. He appeared to be entirely unmovable for the majority of his innings.
Sri Lanka’s Strong Position Sets Up an Exciting Day Two Against Ireland
Mendis enjoyed his at-bat a little bit more. He often went deep into his crease to smash even slightly short deliveries from the spinners in front of the square, making the pull a very effective shot for him. Another significant boundary provider was the cover drive.
Early on, he periodically had trouble with White; one leg break tore past his outer edge, while another took the advantage and ran just fine. But soon, Mendis’ journey was likewise largely trouble-free. Despite the boundaries, his strike rate was never as high as Karunaratne’s because he needed to be better at identifying the gaps. However, his most enduring shot was the run-down-the-pitch six over long-on against McBrine that got him to fifty.
Mendis waited on mistakes for a large portion of the second session, which saw Sri Lanka advance almost absurdly smoothly. The first over after tea, having just launched an Adair bouncer past third man for four, Mendis reached his eighth Test century. The score was generated through 152 deliveries.
Ireland’s performance improved throughout the evening, maybe due to the batting pair’s weariness. Although there was some drop in that delivery, Mendis ran down to sweep and missed what virtually a straight delivery from Dockrell was. He destroyed a review as he was leaving.
The third ball, a short and wide delivery from White, was edged behind by Mathews, who failed to get a start. In the 85th over, Adair threw a wide ball, and Karunaratne leaped at it, rewarding the bowler for some intense periods earlier in the day.
Sri Lanka entered the last over with Dinesh Chandimal and nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya at the crease.Read more cricket news here at Inidibet India, the best sports betting site in India.
