A five wicket haul by spinner Prabath Jayasuriya reduced Ireland to 117 for seven at stumps on day two of the first Test in Galle.
The visiting team is still 474 runs behind Sri Lanka in the first innings.
Earlier, the hosts declared their first innings at 591 for six.
Sadeera Samarawickrama (104) and Dinesh Chandimal (102) shared an unbroken 193-run seventh wicket partnership today.
They followed up with skipper Dimuth Karunaratne’s 179 and Kusal Mendis’ 140 on day one.
