Atlantis Eyes Second 20/20 Title
Atlantis Cricket Club – NY has set its sights on repeating as 20/20 champions in this year’s EACA T20 tournament, by getting off the ground and posting 10 points on the chart last Sunday at Brentwood Cricket Ground. Atlantis was captained by Keon Lake, in the absence of skipper Alex Amsterdam who was in Indianapolis with the ICC Americas Region Combine.
Atlantis skipper for the game Keon Lake picked up five for 30.
It was a long but somewhat restful day for the lads in green, as their first opponent in the day’s double-header Arsenal Cricket Club failed to show up for the scheduled 10:00am encounter, thus allowing the Atlantis players to hit the snooze button while retiring in their cars. They later opened their eyes and took on Long Island United Cricket Club (LIUCC) in a 1:00pm match-up at the same location.
Winning the toss and electing to take first strike, Atlantis posted 193 for 4 in their 20 overs, with Michael Noble missing half of a ton by one run; hitting 5x4s and one maximum. Opener Henderson Blades blasted 38 (6x4s, 1×6), while worthwhile contributions came off the willows of Dwayne Smith, 32 (2x6s, 2x4s), Kavishwar Bridgepaul, 26 (4x4s) and Treon Forde, 17 (1×6, 1×4). There were 27 extras.
Noble who appeared set for a big total after getting off to a slow start, was stumped as he drifted down the track and overplayed a delivery, without completing his half-century. He enjoyed partnerships of 50 with Smith and 56 with Forde. The Atlantis wickets fell at 37, 61, 111 and 167.
Bowling for LIUCC Sajeed Khan had 2 for 30 off 3 overs, while Tahir Iqbal had I for 9 off 2 overs, and Rameez Tirmizi 1 for 36 off 4 overs.
LIUCC in reply started off at a blazing rate, racking up 72 runs off the first six overs, behind the bats of Alvi Ali, 51 (8x4s, 1×6) and Selwyn Mohan, 21 (3x6s). Waqas Ashiq, 49 (5x4s, 1×6) soon followed the duo. However, wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter, with Sajeed Khan, 11, being the only other batsman to reach double-figures.
The Atlantis pace attack appeared to still be sleepy, and the LIUCC top-order batsmen took advantage of that fact with a wake up call, and some cause for alarm in the Atlantis camp. The young pacer Jamiel Jackman eventually got out of bed and grabbed two of the LIUCC middle-order wickets. However, the introduction of the caffeine-wired spinners Lake, Noble and Nair, made the ultimate difference in the match, for Atlantis. LIUCC would eventually be all out for 153 off 18.1 overs. Extras contributed only eight to the total. The LIUCC wickets fell at 75, 75, 82, 97, 134, 135, 147, 151, 152 and 153.
The pick of the Atlantis bowling litter was acting skipper Keon Lake with figures of 4-0-30-5. Prashanth Nair and Jamiel Jackman returned figures of 2 for 24 and 2 for 28 off 3.1 and 3 overs respectively. Michael Noble grabbed the remaining wicket with figures of 3-0-13-1.
Keon Lake had a good day at the office as skipper, with a five-wicket haul and two brilliant catches in the outfield. Lijo Mazhuvanchery and Prashanth Nair matched their acting skipper, each with two equally spectacular catches in the match.
Atlantis will look to make it 3-0 this Sunday at Bay Park, when they tackle Galaxy Cricket Club in a 1:00pm start.
