By Sham Ali 
(Celebrating 47th Anniversary – 20260614. Match #1353): - Vian Gooniah produced a scintillating all-round performance last Sunday at Ferry Point Park to keep his team in the hunt for a playoffs spot as Cosmos made light work of Yakusari and sealed their sixth consecutive victories in as much matches so far this season. 

It was vintage Vian who spun his team into a good position earlier, and then punctuated his presence at the wicket with an entertaining half century that had a mixture of classic stroke play and a good dose of belligerence. That intent gave the Cosmos pavilion every indication that there will be a rapid race to the end.
A dominant all-round effort from Vian Gooniah helped power Cosmos to victory, as he grabbed 4 for 20 with the ball and followed up with a composed unbeaten 54. Photos by Sham Ali.

It was the opening pair of Antanio Rooplall and Yogeshwar Ramgobin who provided the platform with a solid 41-run opening partnership before Ramgobin played-on for 22. Rooplall though had a stony occupation of the crease, and was batting beautifully throughout his inning, He was compact and in good command of anything that was overpitched with a full flourish on the front foot as he unleashed a series of sumptuous drives through extra-cover and mid-off. He and Ghanam Tariq, Cosmos most prolific runs getter so far this season, stitched together a solid 42-run partnership before Tariq on 25 miscued a long-hop to mid-off. Rooplall, after appeared set for a big score, so often, seems to be making it a habit to find a way to get out when he tried to turn a slow ball to leg for a single, a nothing shot really that resulted in a leading edge that lobbed to the wicket-keeper.

However, at 103 for 3, the Cosmos inning was perfectly poised and well within their plan of attack to erase the 152 runs needed for victory.  Cosmos had reduced the opposition batting line-up to a mere procession as they picked up wickets at regular intervals. Had they held on to three chances in the middle overs, when Vian and Chatram Nauth grassed two regulation chances at mid-wicket and mid-on respectively, their target may well have been less than a hundred runs. Somesh Mangaroo played lone hand and was the only batsman who showed some maturity and resistance. When he eventually went for a well played 40 taken by Akash Rahim at point when trying to push the score along off Vian, Cosmos had firm grip on this match at that point. Vian, in the process, was spinning a web around this opposition middle-order batsmen whose only route was airy-fairy.

Ramgobin held onto three good catches at short mid-wicket with such alacrity as if it was planned while Rooplall made no mistake with a skier on the mid-wicket boundary to remove L. Clark to give Vian 4 for 20 in his spell. Towgeshwar Thakoordeen got into the wickets column with 2 for 33 when Balgobin held on to good catch at mid-on to remove I. Williams for 33.  Inzy Khan was quite economical with 1 for 17 off 4 overs, while Chatram Nauth dented the head and tail with 2 for 39. 
Opening batter Antanio Rooplall played a key role in Cosmos’ innings, scoring a composed 36 to give his side a strong start.

Devindra Balgobin was much more focused in this match than in his last encounter, and held a firm control throughout. Thankfully he remained unfazed and offered a deaf ear to the vitriol from an unsanitary tongue that sounded more like an empty barrel rolling down a rocky hill. Instead, he remained focused and marshalled his team and they responded with a disciplined performance on either side of the inning. 

With Cosmos looking to get 152 for victory, their inning was poised on a solid foundation at 83 for 2, and on course courtesy of measured performances by Cosmos top order who were in no hurry and treated this target, for some reason, with irrelevance. Despite Akash Rahim lbw decision and Inzy Khan who was bowled by one of those half-trackers that never lift off from the surface, the outcome of the match was relatively academic, and Vian ensured that when he walked to the wicket. He followed up his decisive spell with the ball with a more dismissive performance with the bat. It was only last Sunday that he took the back seat and obliged young Alvin Gobin ahead of him and watched with glee his young teammate sealed victory in the penultimate ball of the match with a thumping six. 

However, in this match, Vian decided to assume his usual spot at number four, and immediately disconnected the noise with some belligerent leather hunting, and suddenly, the noise disappeared. He followed up a stinging square-cut with a few huge maximums over mid-wicket and mid-on on either side of the wicket. Vian batted with such dismissive intent as though he had missed an entire night's sleep and needed to get home in a hurry. He brought up his half-century in only 28 balls and proceeded to zip up this match with another telling square-cut to the boundary to remain unbeaten on 54 off 30 ball that included four sixes and three fours as Cosmos registered a convincing victory by five wickets. J. Mingo was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 32, and S. Mangaroo got 1 for 8

8:30am - Cosmos Youths will play Knights on Sunday.
2pm - Cosmos will play Intruders on Sunday.at Randalls Island