Dominique Rikhi compiled his second ton of the season, hitting an even 100. Photo by Shem Rodney
Attempting to stage a come back from the previous week’s rain-affected defeat at the hands of Liberty Sports Club, Atlantis Cricket Club – NY staged a gallant attempt at defeating the number two league-leading Big Apple Cricket Club at Bay Park, NY last Sunday, but was eaten to the core by the boys in pink.
Winning the toss and electing to occupy the middle first, Big Apple accumulated 211 apples in 40 overs, losing seven wickets along the way. One of those wickets was former Atlantis batsman Dominique Rikhi, who although not making apple pie out of the Atlantis bowlers, managed an even 100 (8x4s, 2x6s), and caught by his brother Michael Noble off the bowling of Greg Robinson. Rikhi’s ton was the highlight of the Big Apple inning.
Big Apple’s Trevis Ross with 42, (3x4s, 1×6) was the next closest Big Apple batsman in the double-digit column, followed by Donwell Hector, 20 and former Atlantis batsman Clain Williams, 14. The remaining five batsmen making it out to the middle contributed a total of 26 runs to the Big Apple Smuckers apple jam party.
Bowling for Atlantis; Greg Robinson was the apple picker of the day with figures of 8-0-51-4, along with Alex Amsterdam 8-1-21-2 and Michael Noble 8-0-37-1. Extras contributed 10.
Atlantis, looking to can Big Apple on its way to the EACA Cricket Zone 40-Overs semi-finals, was off to a rocky start facing Telston Johnson who snatched the first two Atlantis wickets for a grand total of 15 runs off his spell of 5 overs spanning 24 runs.
A third-wicket partnership between Michael Noble, 43 (4x4s) and skipper Alex Amsterdam, 40 (5x4s), was an Atlantis attempt to stave off the apple slicing by the Big Apple bowlers. It was however, not enough, as the Atlantis batsmen played some injudicious shots to surrender their wickets cheaply. The Atlantis batsmen looked as flat as the face of their paddles, with seven of the wickets exiting via catches.
With an asking rate of little more than 5.25 per over, Atlantis’ approach seemed to reflect an urgent asking rate of 10 plus per over, as several of its batsmen hurriedly left runs on the ground and overs on the table. It was not a pretty sight – the procession of batsmen returning to the Atlantis campsite.
With the exception of Treon Ford, 23 (2x6s, 1×4), the only other Atlantis batsmen reaching double-digits were Shawn Mason, 13 (1×6) and Dwayne Smith, 12 (1×6). The latter was unfortunately run-out, just as he looked to be settling in. Atlantis soon found itself looking down the apple cider chute with less than 200 liters on the board. The boys in green would eventually grow to 162 all out in 33.4 overs, losing the match by 49 runs. A match they were very capable of winning.
Big Apple skipper Zaheer Saffie with figures of 8-0-31-4 was the pick of the Apple crop. Dominique Rikhi 3.4-0-26-3, and the aforementioned Telston Johnson with figures of 5-0-24-2 ably supported Saffie. Extras chipped in with 12, as Atlantis suffered its second loss in as many weeks, despite still maintaining a slot among the top four teams heading into this weekend’s semi-final round.