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GALLE, Sri Lanka – Ireland were made to toil hard by Sri Lanka on the third day at Galle, with Curtis Campher taking the only wicket to fall before rain brought about an early finish.
Ireland had built up an imposing total on the first two days, with Sri Lanka starting the day on 81-0, trailing by 411 runs. They quickly set about erasing the deficit, taking the attack to Ireland’s bowlers on a pitch which offered little assistance.

Both batters began the day just either side of 40, and Dimuth Karunaratne led the early charge. His first boundary came in aggressive style, slashing Campher’s first ball of the day hard over the cordon for four, and there was little let-up thereafter. His half-century came up in the fourth full over of the day off 61 balls, and his century took another 54 balls to arrive. The Sri Lanka captain now has 16 Test tons, drawing him level with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Marvan Atapattu, with only three batters – Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Aravinda de Silva – ahead of him among his countrymen.

Nishan Madushka, playing just his third Test, was more sedate, but showed his own shot-making prowess with the stroke that brought his own century, coming down the track to pump Harry Tector for the first six of the Sri Lankan innings. His hundred came off 159 balls.

The next over, however, Campher finally reaped the rewards of Ireland’s endeavor. A ball after being tickled fine for four, he extracted some extra bounce from the placid surface, beating Karunaratne’s pull and striking the home skipper on the helmet. Karunaratne passed the requisite concussion test, but fell two balls later, with another Campher bouncer taking the top edge and flying to Matthew Humphreys at fine leg.

The dismissal brought lunch but runs continued to flow after the interval. Ben White’s first over of the afternoon session contained three boundaries as Kusal Mendis picked up where his captain had left off. There was some pressure built in a five-over stretch containing two maidens and conceding just nine runs, Ben White beating Madushka’s attempted cut shot in the process, but Sri Lanka were able to gather steam once more.

There were further half-chances. White found Madushka’s inside-edge before a leading edge fell just short of mid-wicket, while Mendis survived a close run-out chance, Harry Tector aiming for the striker’s stumps and nailing a direct hit, but replays showing the batter was just in. A significant opportunity arrived in the over before drinks, with Madushka edging Andy McBrine – Ireland’s most economical bowler – to Andrew Balbirnie at slip, but the Ireland captain couldn’t cling on to a difficult chance.

That reprieve seemed to kick-start a counterattack from Mendis. He pulled White for his first six in the following over, before going to a 59-ball half-century with a glide through the off-side in the next over. Soon after, he smashed debutant Humphreys for three consecutive sixes as he moved up to a scoring rate of a run a ball. Madushka continued to tick along, ending the day on 149 before bad light and then a thunderstorm brought an early end to proceedings.

With two extended days left to play, Sri Lanka trail by 135 runs with nine wickets remaining in their first innings.

MATCH SUMMARY

Sri Lanka v Ireland, Second Test match, Day Three, Galle International Stadium, Galle, Sri Lanka, 26h April 2023

Ireland 492 (145.3 overs; Curtis Campher 111, Paul Stirling 103; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-174)
Sri Lanka 357-1 (77 overs; Nishan Madushka 149*, Dimuth Karunaratne 115; Curtis Campher 1-47)

See full scorecard

Wisden
No
Connaught