By John L. Aaron | Scorecard
Atlantis Cricket Club – NY, looking to maintain its suburbian residency among the top four teams in the Metropolitan League, advanced to the number two spot on the leader board with an emphatic 263-run victory over Suburbia Sports Club last Sunday at Roy Wilkins Park, Queens, NY.
Securing the right side of the coin, Atlantis’ skipper Randall Wilson opted to bat. It was something the Atlantis batsmen were hoping for – a chance to test the depth of its batting line-up. The opportunity presented itself within the space of three runs as Atlantis lost opener Winston Forrester, 23, with the score at 30, and Francis Mendonca three runs and one over later. The latter failed to bother the scorers.
In his first year leading Atlantis since the pandemic, Skipper Randall Wilson stepped up alongside debutante Dimitri Adams with a partnership of 252 runs before Wilson was bowled by Rohan Burrell in the 35th over for a well-made 151, including 8x4s and 9x6s off 127 deliveries. It was a fantastic knock by the young skipper.
At the other end, Anguillan-American left-hander Dimitri Adams was familiarizing himself with the matting surface, stroking 11x4s and one maximum in a patient but aggressive knock of 97. The young American-born batsman who has played some of his cricket in Southampton in the UK displayed some great stroke-play and exquisite timing of the ball. Unfortunately, Suburbia’s Cuthbert Mendonca robbed him of a debut ton for Atlantis by holding on to a catch at mid-off on the penultimate ball of the inning, with the score at 338 in the 40-over match.
Ronaldo Ali Mohamad had joined Adams 45 runs earlier and appeared bent on destroying the Suburbia bowlers. Mohamad’s contribution to the partnership was 41 not-out off 22 balls with 2x4s and 3x6s. The other not-out batsman was Andre Lindsay, who never had a chance to face a ball as the Atlantis inning ended at 345 for 4 in the allotted 40 overs.
Suburbia used eight bowlers in their quest to dislodge the Atlantis batsmen. However, only Halibur Rahman 2 for 52 and Rohan Burrell 2 for 54 were wicket-takers. The Atlantis wickets fell at 30; 33; 285, and 338.
In reply to Atlantis’ 345 total, Suburbia Sports Club was reeling at 5 for 29 with less than ten overs on the board. The Atlantis bowlers sought to make it an early day at the ‘office.’ Among the wrecking balls used by Atlantis was Dillon Bourne, with figures of 8-2-36-4 coming off a previous fiver the previous week against the Panthers Cricket Club. Sumantro Das with 3 for 15, Ronaldo Ali Mohamad 2 for 14, and Greg Robinson one for 16 rounded out the 10-wicket tally in 21.2 overs.
Only three scorers reached double-figures for Suburbia – the diminutive Saiful Islam 14 off 13 balls, including a monstrous mid-wicket maximum off Sumantro Das, and Rohan Burrell, 14 off 16 deliveries. Extras contributed 17. The Suburbia wickets fell at 15, 19, 19, 28, 29, 50, 50, 66, 78 and 82.
It was an emphatic victory for Atlantis as they prepare for an encounter against Strikers Cricket Club this Sunday. Venue TBD.
