Sham Ali
(Celebrating 47th Anniversary – 20260621. Match #1355): - After Cosmos had reduced Intruders for small total, they would have fancied their chances of getting over the line quite comfortably, but the opposition held them at bay. Cosmos had kept their focus for the last six matches, and had managed to positioned themselves in a comfort zone and was cruising along rather comfortably in their quest to secure a spot in the playoffs, but suffered a hiccup when they were ‘suddenly’ ambushed by Intruders at Roy Wilkins Park last Sunday.

It was one of those stark reminders that complacency can be costly and perhaps more so in cricket than any other sports. That has been proven to be so countless times, and Cosmos has been reminded of that, rather rudely, last Sunday. It was a ‘perfect’ day for cricket with temperatures in the mid-eighties, a burnt-out outfield and a good wicket, but it wasn’t a perfect day for Cosmos as they chose to deliver their most imperfect performance with the bat after they had done well to restrict this opposition to a small total despite making a series of blunders in the field. 
Alvin Gobin led the Cosmos bowling attack with an impressive spell of 2 for 26 from his allotted six overs. File photo by Sham Ali

Alvin Gobin shared the new ball with Chatram Nauth and immediately made an impression on this match when he got the breakthrough in his first over to removed K. Ramlakhan, and proceeded to deliver a probing spell of medium pace swing bowling asking a series of questions outside the off stump.

After the initial breakthrough, Cosmos would later rue their chances to make further inroads into the opposition’s line-up when two regulation catches went begging early in the inning. Chatram Nauth clipped K. Singh’s edge with his second ball in the opening  over that went chest high to the wicketkeeper who grassed a straight forward catch, and shortly thereafter Devindra Balgobin lunged forward at short mid-wicket and hit the ground hard with 5.9 on the Richter scale and spilled a low catch offered by J. Ramlakhan, and another went begging at extra-cover offered by Singh - It was a torrid day for Balgobin in the field when another simple chance, late in the inning, burst through his hands on the mid-wicket boundary, he finally managed to redeem  himself somewhat and held on to one in the last over.

But Cosmos had to wait until after the water break before they managed to severed the second wicket partnership when Towgeshwar Thakoordeen held on to a good return catch. He and Vian Gooniah, who went wicketless for 20 runs in his 6 overs, combined for two crucial spells in the middle overs that kept the run-rate to just over five. Despite Cosmos holding a grip on the match, this opposition batsmen managed to stitch together a few mini partnerships that pushed them to a reasonable total of 167 for 7 in their allotted 30 overs. 

To their own detriment, Cosmos batsmen were too casual in their approach and, witless in their shot selection in trying to manufacture shots that would not sell or good enough for a flee market. Yogeshwar Ramgobin got a leading edge to short third-man when he tried to take the off-spinner from outside off stump to backward square. Rooplall, for the umpteenth time swept without a broom, and the inform Ghanam Tariq, forced a drive to extra-cover.

Akash Rahim was undone by an atrocious umpire’s decision that turned the temperature up to boiling point and the match on its head. Rahim was given out caught down the leg-side to a wide ball that clearly came off his thigh. If there was a ‘benefit of doubt’ it was not properly applied in this case, and that makes the decision highly questionable since there are no replays in this recreational cricket. However, the replay did show that the bat and ball were miles apart and the ball had clearly came off the batsman thigh. An umpire’s poor judgment, at times, can change the course of a match, and it may have on this day. Cosmos continued to add to their woes when Chatram Nauth brief two balls stay at the wicket could not have been more ill-advised. With Cosmos reeling on 28 for 4 when he slashed his first ball through point, rather uppishly, for a boundary, and then repeated the stroke in the next delivery but found the man at deep backward point to leave Cosmos was in some deep trouble at 33 for 5 with Intruders running rampant.  

Cosmos went to the break with the score on 55. Vian and Balgobin, two capable batsmen at the wicket, were in repair mode as they began to mend together a partnership of sorts to restore some semblance of respectability to the inning. On resumption, the inning turned on its head once again when in the first over after the break Vian (14) picked out the man at deep mid-wicket. It got worse when Junick Mingo flicked to deep square-leg in the next over, and the Cosmos inning was flattened at 58 for 7 by a series of injudicious shots. Balgobin (14) then helped a short ball to give the man at square-leg catching practice, and Cosmos inning appeared done and dusted as Intruders simply ransacked this batting line-up. Alvin Gobin (12) had a few sparks in the end to compliment his excellent spell with the ball as he continues to impress as a young cricketer. Thakoordeen had his rare visit to the crease with the bat and confirmed his spot as a number eleven when he played across the line to a straight ball and heard his furniture rattled. Cosmos was bowled out for a paltry 89 runs as they registered their first lost this season and Intruders chalked up a convincing 78 runs victory. Bowling for Intruders, D. Andrew took 3 for 17, A. Raheem 3 for 16, J. Dawes 2 for 21, and R. Batson 2 for 34.

Upcoming Games
Sat. 6/27 – Cosmos Masters will play Xploras at Vancourtland Park 
Sun. 6/28 - 8:30am - Cosmos Youths will play Ansari at Ferry Point Park 
Sun. 6/28 - 1:30pm - Cosmos will play Trini Boyz