Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya finished with a match-haul of 10 wickets as Sri Lanka crushed Ireland by an innings and280 runs inside three days of the opening Test in Galle on Tuesday.

This was Sri Lanka’s biggest victory margin in Test cricket, while Ireland slumped to their fifth consecutive defeat since becoming a Test-playing nation in 2018.

Resuming Day III on 117/7 after Sri Lanka piled up a massive 591/6 declared in their first innings, the Irishmen added just 26 more to their overnight total as they were bundled out for 143. Jayasuriya finished with 7/52.

Made to follow on, Ireland managed only 168 in their second essay with off-spinner Ramesh Mendis (4/76) finishing with best figures among the Sri Lankan bowlers while Jayasuriya (3-56) too struck again, finishing with 10 wickets in a match for the second time in Test cricket.

Jayasuriya was adjudged Man of the Match for his match figures of 10/108.

“I’m always trying to work on the basics as I don’t experiment too much,” Jayasuriya said. “This was a similarwicket to the matches we played against Pakistan and Australia.

“There was some drift because of the wind, so I enjoyed utilising that as well.”

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne was effusive in his praise for Jayasuriya. “When I give him the ball, he knows exactly what to do, and he keeps doing it. He’s very patient,” Karunaratne said.

For Ireland, the focus seems more on gaining Test-match experience. “It’s another Test match underthe belt for a lot of our cricketers,” captain Andrew Balbirnie said.

“A lot of us want to play Test cricket, but we got a real taste of that over the last three days. Sri Lanka, at home, are a daunting prospect for any team, never mind a team that hasn’t played a lot of Test cricket.

“Certainly, there are learnings, but we’ve got to find a way to compete better.”

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 591/6 decl. Ireland 143 (P. Jayasuriya 7/52) & 168 (R. Mendis 4/76, P. Jayasuriya 3/56). Sri Lanka won by an innings & 280 runs.

Written with inputs from Reuters