Galle is one of the most famous cricketing arenas in the world with the backdrop of the city’s famous Dutch Fort which over looks the southern end of the ground. Unfortunately, heavy overnight rain on the south coast delayed the start of the game and the overs were reduced to 35 per side. The wicket was very damp and it was no surprise when we were invited to bat by the Vidyaloka skipper.
Chris Harrison and Christian Rice opened the innings and it was clear that scoring runs was going to be difficult in the early stages of this game. Christian fell for three going back when the need is to play forward of the crease and get as close to the pitch of the ball as possible. Josh Habergham also struggled and at 29 for 2 off 8 overs things were not looking too good. James Wainman joined Chris Harrison who by now had the measure of the pace of the wicket and was despatching the poor deliveries to the boundary. Having got to 52 Chris was very unlucky to be given lbw when he clipped the ball onto his pads but the third wicket partnership had taken us to 104. James Parsloe was the next to go when he was stumped for 6 whilst trying to force the pace of the scoring. A quick cameo 13 from Tom Pettican and a loose shot from James Wainman who was batting very well (50) brought Fred Kamstra and Alex Woodward together at 150 for 6 off 31 overs. Fred (20 n.o. and Alex 2 n.o.) steered the score to 177 for 6 off 35 overs.
Vidyaloka came out to bat after the break in brilliant sunshine with a now dry outfield and hard flat track. The ealy exchanges were very much in the batting sides favour before James Parsloe got the breakthrough in the 8th over. Some good fielding and a run out reduced the home side to 43 for 2 off 10 overs. This brought the Vidyaloka star batsman to the crease, KT Madushait, who proceeded to play a wide variety of glorious strokes to all parts of the ground. He and Eranga put on 50 for the third wicket. Fred Roberts (5-24-0) and Andrew Ward (6-32-1) bowled steadily but it was not until Alex Woodward (5-15-2) that the brakes were applied at one end. Unfortunately Rajvir struggled for any consistency with his leg spin and he went for 50 runs off 4 overs. By now it was clear that our total of 177 was about 35 runs short of the target we had been looking for and Vidyaloka reached 178 in the 33rd over to win the game by 5 wickets.
Following the end of match presentations our Tour Guide Upali led the party around the Dutch Fort and along the wall top. The day was finished off with drinks (cokes and ginger beer) in the colonial tea rooms inside the walled town.
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