On day one of Sri Lanka v Ireland, hosts dominate with centuries from Karunaratne and Mendis

Ireland's Mark Adair after the dismissal of Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne

Two late wickets gave Ireland hope on an otherwise dominant first day for Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle.

During the Sri Lanka vs Ireland Test match at Galle, the home team dominated on day one with 386 runs and four wickets lost, thanks to centuries scored by Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis. Their partnership was worth 281 runs, setting a new record for the highest-ever in a Test match at Galle, surpassing the previous record of 267 set by Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim in 2013 for Bangladesh. Despite securing Test status in 2017, Ireland are still seeking their first win in Test cricket. Sri Lanka's Karunaratne won the toss and chose to bat first, leading his team with his 15th Test century and teaming up with Mendis for a big second-wicket partnership. However, Ireland managed to make two crucial breakthroughs at the end of the day, dismissing Mendis and then Angelo Mathews within three overs of each other. Mathews was out after facing only three balls, taking a wild swing at a delivery from Ben White.

Early Ireland struggles

At the beginning of the Test match, Sri Lanka got off to a strong start, reaching 40-0 in the first 10 overs. Despite minimal support for the seamers from the pitch, Mark Adair was brought in early on but failed to ease the pressure on the Ireland fielders, with Karunaratne hitting two boundaries off his first over. Ireland managed to make a much-needed breakthrough in the first hour, with Curtis Campher taking his first Test wicket by delivering a great ball to dismiss Nishan Madushka for 29. However, this was the only wicket for over two sessions of play. Karunaratne scored his half-century before lunch off 69 balls, with Mendis at 33, and they scored 119 runs in the session. During the middle session, Ireland struggled as Mendis hit the first maximum of the day, reaching his half-century by smashing Andy McBrine high over long-on. Two overs later, the partnership reached 100 runs. In the afternoon session, Mendis and Karunaratne scored 126 runs in 28 overs. Mendis reached his eighth century in the five-day format by taking a single to backward point, having ramped Adair to the boundary for four off the previous delivery.

Late revival

Lorcan Tucker celebrates after taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews.

As Ireland faced the realistic possibility of taking just the single wicket in the day, George Dockrell made the breakthrough. He trapped Mendis LBW looking for the sweep - the review from Mendis showed all three reds to give Dockrell some reward after he conceded 59 runs from his previous 10 overs. Two overs later and Ireland had their third. Mathews chased a short and wide delivery from Ben White, the ball taking a feather from his top edge and through to the keeper. Karunaratne's extraordinary innings also came to an end before the close of play as he was caught behind for 179. Ireland will resume on day two looking to build on a positive end to their opening showing in what will be the first time they have been involved in more than one Test match in a series.