John L. Aaron
Bouncing back after a seven-wicket loss to Majestic Cricket Club one weekend ago, the boys in yellow and green bounced back into the winning column with a 185-run victory over Elite Cricket Club at Idlewild Cricket Ground in Rosedale, Queens, NY.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first on an excellent day for cricket, Atlantis Cricket Club-NY lost its first two wickets within the first power-play, with a score of just 30. First to go was Dino Choowtenaam, 7, struggling to find his dependable striking form and having faced 22 balls. He was followed one delivery later by the previous week’s standout player, Jamal Norton, who did not trouble the scorers. With Atlantis at 30 for two, Elite probably thought it would be an early day at the office. They could not be more wrong.
It would be another 125 runs and 21 overs later that Elite would find further success with the wicket of Freddy Pestano, 55 (5x4s, 1×6). Pestano sought to find his comfort zone as he plodded and fumbled before exploding to his first half-century for the season, much to the surprise and delight of those in attendance who were unaware of his emerging half-ton. At the other end was Pestano’s skipper and inning opener Randall Wilson, who was fast-tracking his way to a Father’s Day ton, only to be thwarted two runs shy of his first century of the season. His brilliant knock had the Father’s Day crowd of spectators applauding. His knock of 98 included 6x6s and 8x4s. It was rather unfortunate that Wilson did not reach his century as his left foot came back but was shy of the crease, and he was given out as a result of the quick work of the Elite keeper. Atlantis was one run shy of the 200 mark at that point.
Adjusting for a par score, wickets in hand, and eight overs remaining, it looked like Atlantis was on track to score 260-280 as a final first-inning score. Again, those in attendance and the learned pundits were proven wrong. They should have factored in the hard-hitting Ronaldo Alimohamed and the Atlantis returnee Jamal Hinckson. The duo lit up Idlewild with dueling willows for the last ten overs of the Atlantis inning, as the two batters appeared to be outracing each other to half-centuries. They took 29 runs off the 33rd and 34th overs, 36 off the 27 over, and 22 off the last over.
Jamal Hinckson would be the first to arrive alive with 55 off 23 deliveries (7x6s). Strike rate 239.13. Arriving shortly behind was Alimohamed at the same speed, clocking 55 off 25 balls (5x6s, 4x4s). Strike rate 220.00. Between the two drag racers, Atlantis’ vice-captain, Kellon Carmichael, had a cameo appearance with 27 off 22 balls and three maximums.
Atlantis had four elite performances from its top and middle-order bats. Hinckson, 55 not out; Alimohamed, 55 not out; and Pestano, 55. The three appeared to be observing the highway speed limit while their skipper, Wilson, was caught drag-racing his back leg at 98, attempting to cross the finishing line. The other Atlantis batters were well below the day’s speed limit. Extras got up to 24 RPI (runs per inning) as Atlantis closed out its 40 overs at 321 for 5.
The Atlantis wickets fell at 30, 30, 155, 199, and 225. Keifer Phill, with 8-1-53-2, was the Elite pick of the crop bowler. He enjoyed a double-wicket maiden in the sixth over and appeared to be the only threat to the Atlantis bats.
Elite took to the middle with an asking rate of just over eight runs per over. It was not insurmountable, but Telson Johnson at one end and Dillon Bourne at the other were still to come.
The Elite openers did not fare any better than their Atlantis counterparts, except Atlantis’ skipper Randall Wilson. Both Elite openers were back under the shaded tree within the first six overs of the power play. Former USA national wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson, 10, and opening partner Amer Singh, 0, were victims of Telston Johnson’s furious pace. The two batsmen fell within three deliveries of each other in the fifth over of play. Dino Choowenhaam would wrap up the Elite tail with figures of 4-0-15-4 at an economy of 3.75.
The remaining eight Elite wickets fell at regular intervals; 3/37, 4/81/ 5/93, 6/105, 7/112, 8/124, 9/133 and 10/136 in the 27th over. The Elite squadron fell short of a victory by 186 runs at the 26.4 over mark, moving Atlantis to 3-1 for the relatively young NYNCL’s 2024 season.
Bowling for Atlantis: Choowenhaam 4/15, Johnson 2/31, Steve Roopnarine 2/34, and Diquan Murray 1/22. Randall Wilson was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his brilliant knock of 98.
Atlantis plays Galaxy Cricket Club next on Sunday, June 23, at Beach 32 Cricket Ground (Back Pitch), 9-98 Bay 32 Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691. The match time is 1:00 p.m.