Madushka, Mendis hit double tons As Sri Lanka pummel Ireland

Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis both made double centuries against Ireland Thursday as Sri Lanka's top four batsmen all hit hundreds for only the third time in Test history.

The hosts declared their first innings on 704 for three after tea on the fourth day of the second Test, 212 runs ahead.

Sri Lanka had just over a day to secure a win and a 2-0 series victory that would maintain the visitors' 100 percent losing record in Tests.

Madushka converted his maiden Test century into a double hundred when he cut Matthew Humphreys for four, becoming the second-youngest Sri Lankan to score a Test 200 after Mahela Jayawardene.

He was dismissed for 205 in the third over after lunch, lbw to Andy McBrine, with Ireland successfully reviewing the decision after the initial appeal was turned down.

Madushka's marathon knock lasted six minutes short of eight hours after he faced 339 deliveries and hit 22 fours and a six.

Mendis, Sri Lanka’s captain-in-waiting who had twice been dismissed in the 190s, reached his first Test 200 by pushing a Ben White delivery behind square to steal a single.

He amassed 245 runs and was one short of Wasim Akram's world record of 12 sixes in a Test innings before he was caught at long-off attempting to equal that mark.

Angelo Mathews was dismissed for a duck in the first Test and was put down on one this match, but made the most of his reprieve to post his 16th Test hundred.

That gave the hosts their quadruple-centurions entry in the history books, after India against Bangladesh in 2007 and Pakistan against Sri Lanka in 2019.

The feat was first attained in 2007 by India in Mirpur against Bangladesh, when four of their players, Dinesh Karthik (129), Wasim Jaffer (138), Rahul Dravid (129), and Sachin Tendulkar (122*), each hit a century.

Pakistan replicated this feat in 2019 in Karachi against Sri Lanka, although they initially fell behind after conceding a first-innings lead of 80 runs by being bowled out for 191. However, in the second innings, Pakistan's top four batsmen, Shan Masood (135), Abid Ali (174), Azhar Ali (118), and Babar Azam (100*), each scored a hundred, allowing Pakistan to triumph with a margin of 263 runs.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne, who scored 115 on Wednesday, declared immediately.

Their total of 704 for three was also the highest-ever score in Galle, eclipsing Bangladesh's 638 all out in 2013.