Ireland vs Sri Lanka, Day Two: Two Readings

REPORT ONE: Daniel Byrne: “Ireland almost reaches 500, but Madushka and Karunaratne make it clear that the Sri Lankans are far from beaten yet. Day Two in Galle” …..

Stirling returned to resume his innings on 74 and the ball was changed by the umpires in the sixth over. Four byes took Ireland beyond their previous best score of 339 in the second innings at Malahide against Pakistan. Stirling continued as if he had never had his innings interrupted and Asitha replaced Vishwa after a 4 over spell from the Fort End. A sweep from Stirling to Prabath took his score to 96. At the drinks interval the score was 368 – 5 with 49 runs added in the first hour for the loss of only one wicket from 13 overs. Campher was playing beautifully, and he brought up his half century from 111 deliveries with a six over mid-wicket off Prabath. The 50 partnership from 87 balls was chalked up at the same time.

Stirling

Asitha was bowling bouncers at Stirling on the leg stump and when one of them was suddenly wide of off stump Stirling flayed it into the grass bank in front of me over extra cover to bring up his century from 174 balls including 4 sixes and 9 fours. Asitha finally got his reward when Stirling couldn’t resist another pull shot to a short delivery and just failed to clear the man standing in anticipation at deep long leg ( 385 – 6 ). It was a great effort by Stirling and the fans applauded him all the way back to the Dressing Rooms. However, it left me feeling he could have taken a bit more care and possibly added another 50 to his total. I guess some fans are never satisfied.

Prabath slowed the scoring rate bowling over the wicket into Campher’s pads and was replaced by Dhananjaya just before lunch. The Sri Lankan field settings appeared negative to my view with fielders placed on the boundary in case of poor deliveries. The Sri Lankans should have tried to close out the innings at this point, but McBrine was allowed to settle and at lunch the score was 399 – 6 from 117 overs. 80 runs had been added in the session for the loss of two wickets from 28 overs. The ball was starting to turn appreciably for Prabath and it was another exceptional batting performance from the inexperienced Irish players.

    Curtis Campher in heavenly thanks

A sweep to the deep square leg boundary in the first over after lunch brought up the Ireland 400. Campher played a series of aggressive shots to all parts of the ground and the scoreboard kept ticking over. McBrine hit Prabath over long-on for a huge six. Frank switched his bowlers around regularly at the Fort End and persisted with Prabath all throughout the afternoon session from the Pavilion End.

McBrine comes across as a really solid No. 8 batsman and the 50 partnership was completed from 94 balls. The 450 was celebrated by the fans in the 129^th over. An early drinks break was called by the umpires as Campher required treatment for an injured finger. The physio did whatever was required and Campher immediately hit a boundary to take his score to 94. A sweep to the forward square boundary in the next over took his score to 98 and a pull to square leg completed a marvellous 100 from 209 balls including 2 sixes and 14 fours. Sri Lankan swallows flew over the ground at the same time as if to show their appreciation and respect. A red wattled Lapwing was seen wandering around the outfield at deep square leg. If this continues, I’ll have to start Bird Watching at the Cricket Grounds while looking for stumps in the Rain Forest.

Unfortunately for Ireland this couldn’t continue for the rest of the day and the last four wickets eventually fell for the addition of only 18 runs in 50 minutes. McBrine was caught at a backward point / deepish gully position trying to hit the leather off a delivery from Vishwa ( 474 – 7 ) having contributed 35 to a partnership with Campher worth 89 runs. Campher was then brilliantly caught by Dhananjaya at slip diving full stretch to his right, the batsman attempting a full blooded drive to Prabath ( 476 – 8 ). His 111 runs will be remembered by the Irish fans for a long time to come. Hume scored a boundary from a reverse sweep as Ireland tried to reach that magical figure of 500. The shot was excellently executed but three balls later he played back and was plumb lbw to Prabath, who else ( 483–9). Humphreys tried to hit the spinner for a straight six and was caught in the covers by Ramesh Mendis. Ireland was all out for 492 from 145.3 overs. Prabath ended with figures of 58.3 –13–174–5. 

The Tea interval had been delayed once the Irish ninth wicket fell, and the Sri Lankan innings began at 3.15 pm with Madushka and Frank facing George Hume and Andrew McBrine. Madushka edged both bowlers wide of the slips in the first few overs, before the batsmen settled down and started to look very comfortable. After 10 overs Sri Lanka had reached 42–0 and dark clouds were moving in from the east. Campher replaced Hume at the Fort End after a four over spell and Humphreys was given his first bowl in first class cricket. Reiffel was continuously looking at his light meter and the grounds staff had taken up their positions by the blue plastic covers located all around the edge of the playing area. When the lads ran on with the covers it wasn’t clear if it was bad light or the start of a shower that had led Paul Reiffel to point to the Dressing Rooms. The Sri Lankan score was 81–0 from 18.1 overs and by the time the covers were on the pitch the rain started falling in earnest. I quickly left the ground and managed to get to Ajantha the tuk tuk driver I regularly link up with just as he was taking off to rescue shoppers from the nearby market.

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REPORT TWO: Andrew Fidel Fernando in ESPNcricinfo, aApril 2023

aul Stirling and allrounder Curtis Campher struck their nation’s third and fourth Test hundreds respectively, as Ireland stormed past their previous highest Test score early in the day, and on to a mammoth 492 by tea. Although the sheen of Ireland’s excellent first innings was dulled somewhat by the Sri Lanka openers progressing to 81 for no loss by stumps, the hosts will still have to mount a huge score of their own to put pressure on the visitors. In the last match, Ireland had been rolled for 143 and 168.

It was the 64-run sixth-wicket stand between Stirling and Campher that kicked off Ireland’s day-two march, before Campher took the lead in a seventh-wicket partnership worth 89 with Andy McBrine. Although these partnerships delivered Ireland to within sight of 500, the tail fell quickly.

The hosts’ primary destroyer was once again Prabath Jayasuriya, who bowled a mindboggling 26.3 of Sri Lanka’s 55.3 overs on the day – essentially only taking a break of one over between marathon spells. For those efforts, he completed what already feels like his customary five-wicket haul in Galle – the sixth time he has got a five for, in his seven-Test career. He finished with figures of 5 for 174 from 58.3 overs all up. The seamers, Vishwa Fernando and Asitha Fernando, took two apiece.

It was Vishwa who struck the day’s first blow, producing perhaps the delivery of the Test so far, to dismiss Lorcan Tucker in the first over. Pitching on a length, he jagged one back in sharply at Tucker, batting on 90, to slip between bat and pad, and clatter into off stump. That dismissal brought Stirling back to the crease. He had retired hurt on 74 on the first afternoon after suffering from debilitating cramps. However, Stirling appeared fairly fluent shortly after his day-two arrival, driving Vishwa for two off-side boundaries early in the day.

But he had some nervous moments after he had progressed into the nineties. Asitha delivered an especially intense over to him when he was on 97, hitting him on the shoulder, before getting him to fend another short one away – with his gloves – next ball. At the other end, Campher got to his maiden Test fifty with a slog over deep midwicket off Jayasuriya, before the action returned to Stirling, still on 97.

He backed away, played a T20-style cut, and nailed it. Striking Asitha way over deep point, Stirling became the second Ireland batter to own a century in all three formats, after Kevin O’Brien. Asitha would soon get him with that short ball though. He hurried Stirling into a hook next over, and the top edge settled in the hands of Dhananjaya de Silva at fine leg. Stirling had made 103 off 181 deliveries.

Campher, though, found a more-than-capable partner in McBrine, and took the lead in the partnership that truly grew Ireland’s total into a giant one. Jayasuriya bowled some menacing deliveries through this period, but was occasionally flat, perhaps reflecting the difficult nature of the surface he was working with too. Campher increasingly used his feet as he strode towards a hundred, and swept beautifully as well.

He was ecstatic when he got to the milestone, roughly midway through the second session, gesturing animatedly to the dressing room. Not ordinarily known for big innings, and in the team largely for his seam bowling, this was Campher’s first century in any competitive senior cricket, List A and first-class included. In fact, his previous best score had been a 72 not out in a T20I.

With the wicket of McBrine, who on 35 threw his bat at a Vishwa delivery he needn’t have, Sri Lanka began to reimpose themselves. Jayasuriya took Campher’s edge a few overs later, the chance flying low and to the right of Dhananjaya, who took a spectacular diving catch. Jayasuriya would then get Graham Hume lbw, before debutant Matthew Humphreys holed out slogging.

Sri Lanka’s openers then made smooth starts. Nishan Madushka was tight with his defence, but unleashed some rasping cut shots when the seamers strayed wide of off stump. Dimuth Karunaratne picked up his usual leg-side boundaries to get himself moving, and had little trouble picking up runs into the outfield in between. He had sauntered to 39 off 45, and Madushka was 41 off 64, before dark clouds descended on Galle, and forced the close of play an hour earlier than scheduled.