We have been treated to a series of consistently impressive cricket grounds, and today was no exception. An hour or two south of Colombo, the Surrey Cricket Village is a charitable initiative established by Surrey County Cricket Club after the 2004 tsunami. The village boasts not only a laser-levelled cricket pitch, ringed with palms trees and reverberating with the sounds of exotic birdsong, but over 45 new-built homes and roads with names like 'Alec Stewart' and 'Graham Thorpe'.
Winning the toss, Latymer's openers Luke Ginty and Tom Carson descended from the raised pavilion, keen to establish a strong total. They certainly started in positive fashion, getting well towards 50 in six overs, though they both soon fell in quick succession. In strode Zakhir Tunda. Two matches away from the end of his Latymer career, and still seething from a cheap dismissal against St. Thomas', this was a man on a mission. After establishing a good partnership with Hari Badale, he took the game by the scruff of the neck and refused to relinquish his grip. Some explosive hitting quickly brought about his 50, whilst energetic running and a productive link-up with Cameron Sell kept the scoreboard ticking over. 60 runs came from the final four overs, and Zakhir's authoritative performance brought him 93 from 70 balls: the highest-scoring innings of the tour thus far.
Although pleased with our end total, we knew we would have to work hard to defend this score on a slow wicket. Peter McLaughlan and Hamish Watson both bowled tidy periods of spin to keep the over-rate pacy whilst limiting Kalatara's scoring opportunities. Captain Hari Badale rotated field positions and bowlers intelligently throughout, as well as stepping up himself with leading figures of 3 wickets for 22 runs. However, Kalatara refused to lie down, hitting some big boundaries and racing towards 150. Harjeet Ahluwalia, though, deserves special mention. His relentless energy and positivity in the field, coupled with an economy of just 2.83 from 6 overs, helped negate Kalatara's charge considerably. This was a team performance though - tight in the field throughout, with 7 different bowlers used, and Alex Pigott reliable as always behind the stumps - and a satisfying team victory, as Kalatara fell 24 runs short. We will enter our final games on Wednesday with confidence.
