Andrew Balbirnie becomes Ireland's leading run-getter in Tests: Key stats
What's the story
Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie smoked a crucial fifty in the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. He led from the front as the Irish batters have shown some resilience in comparison to the first Test. His exceptional knock of 95 made him the leading run-scorer for Ireland in Tests. At stumps on Day 1, Ireland are strongly placed at 319/4. Here's more.
Knock
Andrew Balbirnie fell short of a much-deserved hundred
Balbirnie showed great technique to maneuver the SL spinners. He was rooted to his task and missed out on a well-deserved hundred. He steadied the ship with Harry Tector by adding 46 runs. Later, Balbirnie stitched a 115-run stand with Paul Stirling, taking the score beyond the 200-run mark before the latter was retired hurt. He was dismissed by Ramesh Mendis at 95.
Stats
Balbirnie becomes Ireland's top scorer in Tests
Courtesy of his knock, Balbirnie is now Ireland's leading runscorer in the longest format. Playing his sixth match, he has raced to 270 runs at an average of 24.54. He has slammed three fifties. Balbirnie overtook Kevin O'Brien's tally of 258 runs during the course of his knock. His previous two fifties have come against England and Afghanistan.
Record
Highest partnership for Ireland in Test cricket
Balbirnie and Stirling are veterans of the game for Ireland, and they both held their ground with aplomb. The duo stitched 115 runs until Stirling got retired hurt after Tea. Nevertheless, their partnership became the highest for Ireland in Test cricket beating the 114-run stand between O'Brien and Stuart Thompson against Pakistan in Malahide in 2018. O'Brien slammed his ton in that match.
Summary
Here's the summary of Day 1 of the second Test
Ireland batted first and lost two quick wickets. Therefore, Balbirnie and Tector steadied the ship by adding 46 runs. Later, Balbirnie and Stirling stitched a historic 115-run partnership. Stirling was retired hurt and Balbirnie departed soon after. But Lorcan Tucker (78*) and Curtis Campher (27*) have added 87 more runs to post 319/4 at stumps. SL spinner Prabath Jayasuriya finished the day with 2/95.