Ireland fight back after disappointing first Test

Rex Clementine in Galle

If you had just brushed aside Ireland as weak and timid opposition against whom records mean nothing, you were made to rethink and Sri Lanka’s bowlers and coaching staff were forced to reassess their strategies as they finished on a strong 319 for four on day one of the second Test here in Galle yesterday.

Beaten inside three days by an innings and 280 runs last week, there was little hope for the Irish and it looked déjà vu when Prabath Jayasuriya claimed a wicket off his first over. But Andy Balbirnie wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

First it didn’t look like classical Test match grinding as the Irish skipper raced to his half-century off just 43 balls with ten fours. But soon after the milestone he settled down to put the tourists in pole position.

Together with deputy Paul Stirling, Balbirnie added 115 runs for the fourth wicket, a record for Ireland for any wicket in their brief Test history.

With Sri Lanka finding it hard to make a breakthrough, Stirling made things easy for the hosts as he was forced to retire with cramps.

Balbirnie would be kicking himself for throwing away the opportunity to become only the third Irishmen to score a hundred in Test match cricket as he attempted a wild paddle sweep off Ramesh Mendis and was caught at first slip.

Wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker, who had scored a hundred on debut in Dhaka earlier this month, is looking good to post another hundred in only his third Test as he came up with an entertaining knock finishing unbeaten on 78.

Sri Lanka were ruing a missed opportunity as they failed to review a bat-pad catch when he was on 36.

Tucker and Curtis Campher have added 87 runs for the fifth wicket and Sri Lanka need to make a breakthrough early on day two.

Mendis bowled poorly sending down a couple of loose balls every over. The off-spinner has had that problem for a while now and patience is running thin.

Having said that several off-spinners in the country whom we have tried out have issues with their action and in Mendis at least you have someone with a clean action. Then, in an era when most young players have had disciplinary issues, Mendis has a clean record and it’s only fair that the team perseveres with him hoping he will fix the problem rather than discarding him at this stage of his career.