By Sham Ali
(Celebrating 46th Anniversary):- Alvin Gobin produced a good spell of medium pace bowling supported by some excellent fielding for Cosmos to reduce Tri County in a below par total when the two teams met at Roy Wilkins Park last Sunday.
On a hot and humid day Roy Wilkins Park as the city began to brace itself for a few days of heat wave, Tri County won the toss and without hesitation they elected to bat. It was a decision that appeared to be spot-on as the opposition opening batsmen were in aggressive moods, but Cosmos new raising star, the fifteen-year-old Alvin Gobin, countered with a controlled spell of medium swing bowling as he turned up the heat a little more. He teased the outside edge repeatedly and got the occasional one to jagged back.
It appeared as if Cosmos was in for a long day as the opposition raced to 39 in just four overs, before Sham Ali effected the breakthrough when R. Manickchand offered a skier and Doneshwar Dayananad, the man with the magnetic arm, took off to his left at short mid-wicket to track it down. With the ball swaying away from him, he did not give up, and in a split second, he stuck one hand out, like the one arm swordsman, and discovered and found the ball glued in it.
Undoubtedly, that was a catch that had pure effort written all over it. Brilliant, just brilliant. Make some noise, he zips the lips of those who think that he is not good enough to play. In Ali’s next over, Baveshwar Utam, after a few uncharacteristic blunders in the outfield field earlier, ignited Cosmos’s efforts when he pulled off a jaw-dropping run out at cover point; a full-blooded drive that would have raced to the boundary, but hello, it was intercepted by the outstretched hand of ‘Mister lightning fast’ Utam, and without a second delay rocket a perfect throw to Balgobin who obliged gleefully to complete the run out.
Cosmos sensed blood, and vice-captain Ryan Ganesh then got into the mix after he was denied a big nick for a caught behind decision. Ganesh, in the same over scalped two quick wickets via lbw and a one-handed blinder by wicketkeeper Devindra Balgobin to leave the opposition reeling on 52 for 5 in 10 overs.
The veteran Sohan Dass, who apparently took a queue from Towgeshwar Thakoordeen’s spell in the last match and served up some additional ‘chasers’ in his solitary over. He was immediately replaced when captain Balgobin tossed the ball to the young energetic, Alvin Gobin, who trotted up and steamed in to turn the heat on the opposite lower order. He bowled with good control on a nagging length and a probing line to keep his team in the hunt, while the left arm orthodox, Thakoordeen, who looked refreshed in this match, was asking a few questions. He got bounce and turn and picked up two wickets in the process when Dass held on to a good skier at extra-cover. He would have had another had Dass held on after making good ground to his right, but it bounced out of his hand on his second attempt while yours truly did not move an inch (though the catch was clearly his) but smiled and watched contentedly in the heat of things absorbing a few syllables. That was a good effort though from the big man Dass, Donesh or Azam would not have gotten close to it.
Alvin Gobin had teased the outside edge on several occasions and finally struck in his fifth over when he got one to move off the seam and had D. Ramdeo fanned into the lap of Yogeshwar Ramgobin at extra-cover. Gobin then severed the tail with successive deliveries when he clipped the edge of T. Deonarine to give part time wicketkeeper, Devindra Balgobin, his fourth catch of the inning. Gobin then delivered an in-swinging Jaffer that cartwheeled the mid-stump of J. Chand to close the gates on the Tri County inning on 124 all out in 24.4 overs. A. Gobin took 3 for 20, R. Ganesh 3 for 24, and T. Thakoordeen 2 for 30.
Despite a slight hiccup in the chase, Cosmos made light work of the target. Y. Ramgobin opened his account with two boundaries before a headless heave. Ghanam Tariq, Cosmos inform batsman, then went via lbw to an arm ball from left-arm orthodox M. Baker, 36 for 2. Antanio Rooplall and Akash Rahim stitched together a solid 3rd wicket partnership of 73 runs to give Cosmos some dominance as the sun was blazing down. Rooplall swept with regularity and dispatched some ranked long-hops with authority. He brought up his half-century with a sweep through square-leg but was undone when he attempted another in the next over and missed and went via lbw for a well-played 48-ball 54 runs by which tine Cosmos was in control at 109 in the 14th over.
Rahim, after a below average season last year seems to have readjusted his technique and showed signs of improved fluency. He was quite watchful early in his inning, and as he played himself in, he relished the opportunity and pounced on anything in the slot a few telling drives through extra-cover and mid-off and cuffed one disdainfully over cover one bounce into the boundary to keep the scorecard ticking along. Rahim (34) was still there alongside his captain Balgobin when to take Cosmos to a convincing 7-wicket victory in 17.3 overs.
Upcoming Games:
Cosmos Master will play Connecticut Masters on Saturday at Beach 32.
Cosmos Kings (Youths) will play Port Mourant on Sunday at Idlewild at 8am.
Cosmos A will play Intruders at Beach 58 at 1pm.
