Ireland’s Curtis Campher celebrates after scoring a century during the second day of the final cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and Ireland at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 25 April 2023 – AFP

Ireland’s Paul Stirling celebrates after scoring a century during the second day of the final cricket Test match between Sri Lanka and Ireland at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 25 April 2023 – AFP

Ireland enjoyed their best batting display of their brief six-match Test career when they piled up their highest total 492 on the second day of the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Maiden centuries from the bats of Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher got Ireland to their record score surpassing their previous best of 339 against Pakistan in their inaugural Test match played at Dublin in 2018.

With the pitch still good for batting Sri Lanka openers Nishan Madushka (41*) and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (39*) eased their way to 81 without loss off 18.1 overs before the heavens opened out and rain washed out play in the final session with 15.5 overs left to be bowled for the day. Sri Lanka trail Ireland by 411 runs and there is still a lot of work to be done if they are to convert this game into a win for them. But at the moment Ireland hold all the aces after putting runs on the board. 

Ireland was quite successful with the bat and now it is the turn of their bowlers to try and bowl out a strong Sri Lankan batting line-up on a strip that is still good for batting.

The way the Sri Lankan bowlers toiled hard for wickets in oppressive heat and humidity told the story that this was not the Galle surface that we are quite used to. There was no help on it for the bowlers and the slowness of the pitch allowed the Irish batsmen to get onto the back foot and play the spinners comfortably placing the ball into the gaps frequently.The Sri Lankan spinners toiled for five sessions with their prime bowler Prabath Jayasuriya going through 58.3 overs, the most he has bowled in an innings for his sixth five-wicket haul in seven Tests. He had a mixed bag bowling some good deliveries along with short ones. The left-armer is only two wickets shy of becoming the quickest bowler to 50 Test wickets by a Sri Lankan. The record currently is jointly held by off-spinners Dilruwan Perera and Ramesh Mendis who got there in 11 Tests.

Sri Lanka had an early success when play began on the second day getting the wicket of Lorcan Tucker off the fourth ball of the morning when left-armer Vishwa Fernando bowled him neck and crop for a well compiled 80 off 106 balls (10 fours), ending a partnership of 89 for the fifth wicket with Campher.

His dismissal saw Sterling who retired with cramps with his score on 74 on the first day come back to resume his innings. Having recovered fully Sterling continued from where he left off playing aggressively and taking on Sri Lanka’s best bowlers in the cauldron of Galle. 

Stirling negotiated a series of short-pitched deliveries from Asitha Fernando when in the nineties to bring up his century in style smashing the bowler over cover point for six. He reached the landmark off 174 balls with the aid of four sixes and nine fours and joined Kevin O’Brien as the only Irishmen to score a century in all three formats of the game.

Following closely on Stirling’s heels was Campher, an all-rounder of merit who’s turn it was to turn the heat on Sri Lanka. He played a proper Test innings under pressure negating the turn of Jayasuriya and the pace of Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando to reach his maiden hundred in any format off 209 balls (14 fours, 2 sixes). He had 160 dot balls in his century which went to show the amount of hard work he had put into his innings. 

It was a brilliantly constructed knock, a study of concentration to wear down the Lankan bowlers in the heat. In the 310 minutes he spent at the wicket, Campher constructed partnerships with Tucker, 64 with Stirling and 89 with Andy McBrine (35) that saw Ireland completely turn tables on Sri Lanka getting past the 400-run mark for the first time. 

After their first Test performance when they were shot out for totals of 143 and 168, it was an amazing batting effort by Ireland who played risk free cricket. Most of Ireland’s cricket till yesterday have been catch up cricket. 

This Test against Sri Lanka is a new experience for them. As for Sri Lanka they would not have expected to be on the field for five sessions after their rather comprehensive victory in the first Test. They were expected to dominate Ireland in the series.

You need a lot of patience to bowl on this type of wicket: Jayasuriya