Prabath Jayasuriya rips Ireland with 5-wicket haul after Sri Lanka pile up massive score in 1st Test

Prabath Jayasuriya capped off another dominating day for Sri Lanka as Ireland kept struggling in the opening Test at the Galle International Stadium.

The left-arm spinner picked up his fifth five-wicket haul in only his sixth Test. Jayasuriya finished Day 2 with figures of 19-9-42-5 as Ireland are trailing by 474 runs with only three wickets left in their first innings. James McCollum and Harry Tector scored 35 and 34 respectively, but were unable to carry on and make their starts count.

Jayasuriya got enough support from left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando, who picked up two crucial wickets of Murray Commins and Andy McBrine. Asitha Fernando was also tough to get away. Ireland ended the day with their score at 117 for the loss of seven wickets.

Earlier, Sri Lanka racked up a huge score of 591 for six (declared) in their first innings. Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis made merry on the first day, after which it was the turn of Dinesh Chandimal and Sadeera Samarawickrama in the second.

Samarawickrama scored 104 runs off 114 balls with 11 fours and played at a strike-rate of 91.22. Chandimal also looked at his very best, having scored 102 off 155 with 12 fours.

Jayasuriya, who came in as a night-watchman after Karunaratne’s dismissal, scored 16 off 23 before Curtis Campher trapped him plumb in front. Dhananjaya de Silva started his knock with three fours before Andy McBrine dismissed him LBW.

McBrine, who came into the game after a six-wicket haul against Bangladesh, had to work hard. The off-spinner finished with figures of 40-2-162-1. Ben White dismissed Angelo Mathews for a duck, but leaked runs at an economy rate of 5.40. George Dockrell, one of Ireland’s experienced campaigners, also went for 112 in 21.3 overs.