Cosmos Lions defeated Cosmos Cubs
By Sham Ali
(Celebrating 46th Anniversary): – IT IS ALL EVEN NOW! Cosmos Lions (Masters) delivered a telling equalizer and levelled the series against Cosmos Cubs (Youths) when the two teams met to celebrate their 46th Anniversary and Family Day on July 4 Independence Day at Gateway Park. It was a perfect picture day for cricket but more so an extra special day for the Cosmos family as they basked in the spirit of love, camaraderie, and togetherness.
After all the formalities were in order Cosmos Masters captain, Sohan Dass, Cosmos A team captain, Devindra Balgobin, and Cosmos Youth captain, Azam Yakub got the show on the go when they walked out to toss and looking impressively draped in their Cosmos blazer. Of, course Masters ‘won’ the toss for the second time (they have a special coin for this match) and elected to bat on a sweltering day with the temperature hovering on the ninety degrees mark.
The BBQ grill was blazing with the chief cook Yogeshwar Ramgobin in command while former Guyana Youth player Danny Ramsaroop and yours truly walked out to open the batting. Doneshwar Dayanand steamed in with the new ball only to be seasoned by yours truly six over extra-cover. Ramsaroop took a liking to Govind Persaud and dispatched him to the point boundary. Ramgobin felt some of the heat and made his way onto the field to try to stem the flow of runs. He left Akash in charge of the grill and came in as first change bowler and got some sauce from Ramsaroop in his first over. Lions were in attack mode as they raced to 88 in 9 overs when both openers retired. A.J. Salmon took a liking to Azam and was a little too aggressive, sending him close to the Belt Parkway twice. AJ needed to get some runs to boost his bet with Balgo for most runs, while S. Narine was stroking it at the other end.
It was a lengthy break at fifteen overs since Cubs needed some food and additional fuel. Upon resumption, Cubs aces, Thakoordeen, Ganesh, and Balgobin took the ball, but it was more leather hunting with Mark Kippins and Gangaram Lochand in full flow. The ball reserves were running low while the BBQ lamb and chicken were stacked up. Kawal Persaud, Gilbert Bartholomew, and Ganesh Ramsingh were in cruise control in the closing overs while guest player Mukesh Sookram did all his scoring inside when Lions inning closed on an imposing 297 for 6 off their allotted 30 overs.
The break was a lengthy feast, and Lions offered to concede the victory to Cubs since there were an extraordinary number of delicious goodies to devour, but Cubs would have none of the offer and were determined and up for the challenge. They need to fire on all cylinders to challenge the Lions total. Thakoordeen is the premier opening batsman in this Family Day encounter as he and Devin Persaud took on the Lions attack with Glenford Shangie running in. Devin had a few sparks before he went. Ryan Ganesh and Thakoordeen kept the run rate quite healthy with both batsmen hitting the boundary fence and making full use of the power play. They looked determined for a showdown. Sunil Narine took an excellent catch on the mid-on boundary offered by Ganesh to break the partnership. Young centurion Govind Persaud did not last too long while Joseph had one spark. Ramgobin and Akash looked like they wanted to cage the Lions with a breezy 60-runs partnership. Ramgobin expended some energy to clear the fence twice while Akash cleared it effortlessly on four occasions, but Lions roared and removed Ramgobin as the required rate climbed to twelve.
Balgobin made a push in the end but was out of breath and fell short by seven runs to his bet with AJ. Vijai had a brief stay Rahim retired on 57 making way for Azam and Elijah to show their talent. Elijah got to the mid-wicket boundary twice while Azam got halfway. Doneshwar flex his muscles and soften AJ a bit with two fortuitous boundaries to the backward square fence before the Cubs inning closed on a fighting 266 for 8 in their allotted 30 overs as Lions drew even on another admirable day of cricket in the history of Cosmos.
The presentation took a serendipitous form as it was filled with praise for a wonderful day, especially for the parents that Cosmos found a way to give the youths an opportunity to play and for them to be involved in a disciplined and respected club. Of course, the birthday cake for Azam and Vidya was delicious. A big thank you to my beautiful wife Faizah for organizing on the day and making everyone comfortable, and to all the family for preparing the delicacies, auntie Sherry, Azam mom, Merzina and family, Balgo mom and family, Yogie’s mom and family, Dinesh family, Akash family, Ryan family, Ravi and family, Danny and family, AJ and family, our official umpire Raj.
It was nice to see the trophy switched hands from Cubs to Lions. No one was in a rush to leave firing off some fireworks with enough daylight for Mukesh to start another session that ended at about 9:30. We left Gateway looking spick-and-span, but the undercurrents said that we left the park nasty, should first invest in some Listerine mouth-wash, and then mop-up the park. Cosmos is indebted to all the families for making the day a grand success, and to all of Cosmos boys who came up big again and continue to impress. We will do it again next year at the same time at the same place.
