Cosmos Began Their Forty-First Season With KC Fifer
By Sham Ali
(Celebrating 41st Anniversary – Match #1083):- Kemraj Conyer bagged a fifer on his debut for Cosmos while Daniel Chunilall, deputized as captain, stroked a breezy fifty to bowl Cosmos off on their 41st season against Suburbia at Roy Wilkins Park last Sunday.
It didn’t take long for medium pacer Devindra Balgobin to shake off some of the winter rust, medium as he struck early blow when he got one to nip back to remove A. Moose (3) in the fourth over as he and Ronaldo Sookhoo combined for a good opening spell. Chunilall read the conditions well and made an early change when he brought right hand off-spinner Conyer and former Trinidad and Tobago national U15/19 player left arm orthodox Justin Gangoo into the attack. Conyer immediately got into the mix with strikes in his first two overs when he got one to skid through and trapped Burell (16). In his next over he squeezed through the gates to remove M. Burney (2). With the score on 53 for 3 in the 12th over the decision to field appeared to be a good one on a pitch that was still damp after an early shower.
Cosmos kept a grip on this match as Conyer and Gangoo combined for a tidy spell while Cosmos kept chipping away at the opposition. Conyer struck again after the break to remove the captain Z. Cardwell (18) caught at cover by Sohan Dass, and medium pacer Aldien Robinson bowled M. Hussain (37) with the score on 98 for 5 in the 20th over. The experience Trocard, a former Dominica national player, was still at the wicket when Balgobin returned for his second spell, and what transpired next may have had a major impact on the match. When on 15 Trocard nicked to the wicketkeeper and walked, but he was called back after the umpire signaled no-ball. The umpire claimed that the bowler did not say that he had changed from bowling over-the-wicket to bowling around-the-wicket. The claim was somewhat interesting since the umpire asked the non-striker batsman to move to the opposite side of the wicket clear of the bowlers the-up, and as such one would have to assume that the umpire knew of the bowlers ‘change’ since the non-striker batsman received that instruction.
That decision left head shaking and created a bit of uneasiness. Trocard capitalize on his reprieve while the Cosmos attack struggled for some composer as they searched for a breakthrough of a partnership that was looking quite ominous. Trocard went on to score an impressive 83 runs as he and R. Choudhary posted a crucial 6th wicket partnership of 101 runs to take Suburbia to 197 in the 30th over. Daniel Chunilall then picked off a brilliant stumping down the legside off medium pacer Ronoldo Sookhoo to remove Trocard to break the partnership while Conyer upon his return for a second spell picked up another two wickets in two balls to bag a fifer. J. Smith scored a breezy 32 in the closing overs to push Suburbia to 251 all out off their allotted 35 overs as Cosmos attack leaked 150 runs in the last 15 overs that included 37 extras. K. Conyer 5 for 54, D. Balgobin 2 for 44, R. Robinson 2 for 50.
In reply, Cosmos inning got off to fortuitous start when Robinson was run out after he called for an impossible run when the ball deflected just behind slip. Shane Grant and Justin Gangoo settled in to push Cosmos to 53 in the 8th over before Gangoo holed out to a loose shot to deep mid-off. That dismissal was followed by a series of ill-advised strokes as Cosmos lost another six wickets for just fifty runs, and suddenly found themselves in serious trouble at 105 for 8 in the 19th over. Chunilall and Balgobin then produced a sensible 8th wicket partnership worth 70 runs to add some respectability to the total before Balgobin played a tried heave and lost his woodwork for 23. Chunilall, however, was playing a captain’s knock as he put together an impressive 53 not out. That partnership was encouraging in that it established some dept in the Cosmos line-up. Suren Persaud did not trouble the score and the Cosmos inning ended on 175 all out in the 30th over as Suburbia sealed a comfortable 76 runs victory. N. Ramdial took 4 for 24, R. Knight 2 for 34, and J. Smith 2 for 34.
Cosmos will play Punjab next Sunday at Bayswater Park.
