By Sham Ali
(Celebrating 46th Anniversary): – Ghanam Tariq led the way with a gritty half-century for Cosmos against Phoenix Knights when the two teams met at Baisley Pond last Sunday. It was disappointing to see the usually well-kept Baisley Pond outfield to be in such poor condition. It was not surprising though given the undercurrents at work, and added to the complications and the sweltering heat, we were informed that instructions came from some that we cannot play/use the matting that was already on the wicket (not that we wanted to). We remove it and use our ‘own’ – the New York national cricket league matting, with no sweat, and the NYNCL president will have it no other way, excellent!
Homo sapiens are supposed to be the advanced species of all the primates, or so ‘they’ say, I have my doubts after what transpired last Sunday. It is distasteful and an absolute disgrace to see the kind of guttural maneuvering and divisiveness that exist when it comes to playing a game of cricket in these parts. Actually, there is no need for discord. It is pure ugliness / nastiness (pick a word). No wonder cricket has remained in a doggy dog environment over the years, and it will get worse in some corners. Cosmos has been far removed, light years away, from the noise that has become irrelevant.
Tariq led the Cosmos charge, after Devin Persaud (10) went with the score on 28, as he and Antanio Rooplall stitched together a crucial 2nd wicket partnership of 70 runs. Rooplall after looking quite solid played an unwise legside dab and the ball ballooned to the man at gully. Tariq was in good command at the crease, but he was getting very little rewards for his strokes on a heavy outfield, and after he had done all the hard work, lost his head when he ran down the wicket and played a headless swipe, and missed. Despite the loss of two quick wickets, Cosmos was in an advantageous position at 122 for 3 and poised for a late inning charge, but the middle-order failed to capitalize on a solid foundation and lost their way with a series of airy-fairy shots that left the inning in trouble at 141 for 7. Mark Kippings and Baveshwar Utam then added a crucial 27 runs to push Cosmos to a competitive total of 168 for 7 in their allotted 30 overs. A. Emon was the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 24.
Ryan Ganesh has been bowling well all season, tidy and consistent, and he produced another excellent spell to keep Cosmos in the hunt in this match. He removed both openers when Tariq held on to an excellent catch at deep mid-off offered by N. Ahmed and Balgobin accepted a nick behind.
Cosmos went into the break after their opening attack had done well to restrict the opposition to 64 for 3. On resumption, Cosmos ceased the opportunity to tighten the screws with the run-rate climbing steadily. Mark Kippings and Towgeshwar Thakoordeen combined to back Knights into a corner with miserly spells and subsequently ran through the middle-order picking up three wickets a piece. Sohan Dass and Baveshwar Utam severed the tail to leave Knights on 107 all out as Cosmos sealed a convincing 61 runs victory. M. Kippins took 3 for 23, T. Thakoordeen 3 for 21, and R. Ganesh 2 for 22.
