GALLE - Sri Lanka thrashed Ireland by an innings and 280 runs on Tuesday, in one of the biggest winning margins in Test history and the largest by the South Asian nation. In what was also Ireland’s biggest defeat to date, the visitors were all out for 168 on day three in a hot and humid Galle International Stadium.
It was the 12th-largest innings victory in Test history, behind England’s win over the West Indies in 2007 by an innings and 283 runs. Sri Lanka’s previous biggest win was when they hammered Zimbabwe by an innings and 254 runs in 2004 in Bulawayo. Sri Lanka in their first innings declared on a mammoth 591 for 6. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne top scored with 179 runs while Kusal Mendis posted 140. Dinesh Chandimal and Sadeera Samarawickrama then hit unbeaten hundreds.
Sri Lanka then bowled out Ireland for 143 and enforced the follow-on, finishing the job just after tea on day three. Prabath Jayasuriya took three wickets in Ireland’s second innings, adding to his seven in the first innings. Ireland’s Harry Tector top-scored for the visitors in the second innings with 42. Ireland have now lost all five of their matches since securing Test status in 2017. Prabath Jayasuriya, player of the match, said: “I’m always trying to do the basics, don’t experiment too much.
This was a similar wicket to the matches we played against Pakistan and Australia. There was some drift because of the wind, so enjoyed using that as well.” Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne said: “First of all I just wanted to make sure that I got a big one. In the Australia series I got starts, but I wanted three figures. The key was patience. As for Ireland they’re new to this format, they’re still learning, but I thought they were very good and will improve in the future. They bowled well, we just wanted to apply ourselves for the first hour, and after that we knew how to play spin and bat in these conditions.
“Sadeera was very key, I knew from the A Team as well, he’s a hard worker. He’s done well for the A Team and the NSL, so I knew he would do well when given a chance. Even the fielding was really good, need to mention Nishan Madushka, those catches were brilliant. That’s the kind of attitude I want from our fielders, even though I know the conditions are difficult. [Prabath Jayasuriya] knew what he had to do, I don’t need to do anything at all, he knows exactly what’s needed,” he added.
