Strong start for Ireland against Sri Lanka, Balbirnie misses out on a century

Captain Andy Balbirnie (95) and Paul Stirling (74) shared a record 115-run partnership for the third wicket as Ireland scored 319 for four in their first innings on Monday on the opening day of the second Test. On a flat pitch, the Irish batsmen did not find much trouble in front of the Sri Lankan bowlers. Both Balbirnie and Stirling were batting brilliantly and were on their way to hundreds. After the tea break, Stirling retired hurt after scoring 74 runs in the third over due to a hamstring strain.

He hit three sixes and six fours in his innings. A little later, Balbirnie was dismissed by Dhananjay D’Silva caught by Ramesh Mendis. He hit 14 fours in his 163-ball innings. Lorcan Tucker then held one end and was batting on 78 at the end of the day’s play. Curtis Campher is batting on 27 runs with him. Both have made an unbroken partnership of 87 runs for the fifth wicket.

Earlier, Ireland won the toss and decided to bat first, but by the tenth over, both its openers Peter Moore (five) and James McCullum (10) returned to the pavilion. Ireland suffered a third blow before lunch in the form of Harry Tector (18). After this, Balbirnie and Stirling did not give much opportunities to the Sri Lankan bowlers. Both surpassed the record of 114 runs partnership between Kevin O’Brien and Stuart Thompson against Pakistan in 2018. For Sri Lanka, Prabhat Jayasuriya took two wickets while Vishwa Fernando and Mendis took one wicket each. Sri Lanka won the first Test by 280 runs and if the team wins this match, it will be their 100th Test win. Sri Lanka has so far won 99 Tests. 92 of his matches have been draws while he has faced defeat in 119.