By Sham Ali
(Celebrating 28 Anniversary): Cosmos ended their Metropolitan Cricket League 2010 season in style when their two promising young players Mario Persaud and Ghous Agha strolled to the pavilion with their heads held high amidst encouragement and applause from the opposition and the spectators, even though a victory had eluded their effort in the Twenty/20 match at Gateway Park in Brooklyn last Sunday.
New York Region U19 player Marlon Persaud led Cosmos batting with 24 runs. Photo by Shiek Mohamed.
Marlon Persaud won the toss for Cosmos who elected to field under cloudy conditions. Ghous Agha and S. Ali held a steady line in the opening overs to put the Pioneer batsmen under some pressure. Agha had danger-man B. Hamid (16) caught at cover in his second over before he completed a disciplined spell, his effort was then supported by Atlantic Region U15 players Ryan Persaud, Kamran Kamal, NYR U19 player Marlon Persaud and USACA’S U19 player Cameron Mirza who kept the pressure on the opposition. At 108 for 5 in the 15th over, cosmos was well in control of the match, however, Pioneer lower order batsmen responded with a few lusty blows in the last three overs that yielded 41 runs. G. Mason got 23, M. Sarigo 36 and S. Azad 29 when Pioneer inning closed on a challenging 149 for 7 in their allotted 18 overs.
Cosmos opening batsmen M. Persaud (24) and C. Mirza (10) struggled to keep the score ticking as they managed only 32 runs in the opening 8 overs. It was an uphill battle thereafter as R. Persaud and double centurion K. Kamal mixed some lusty blows and aggressive running between the wicket before Persaud holed out for a well played 30 runs just as he was beginning to strike the ball with some authority, and Kamal was run out for 14 runs. The veteran Lalta Persaud grabbed some inspired youth from his son as he attempted to outplay the young Persaud, he chimed in with 14 runs off 4 balls. The two veterans, S. Ali and L. Persaud then retired to give the two youths, Mario Persaud and Ghous Agha, a chance to push for victory, they fell short by 15 runs when cosmos inning closed on 134 for 5.
The disappointment of the loss was quite evident on the young faces, however, it was an effort worthy of the price of any appearance on the cricket field in the past and this team of determined young men who were energized showed some real purpose in playing the game. In the post match meeting, when the youths learned that Cosmos is older the all of them, it brought a pleasant smile to their faces. This defeat will quickly vanish from the minds of these young cricketers who play the game for the mere love of it. They will learn that in every defeat that there is an intrinsic amount of success as Cosmos have proved that time and again as they ended another successful cricket season and added another stellar year onto their decorated history and in the process carving an outstanding legacy.
Sunday MCL Twenty/20 playoffs: Semi finals: Pioneer will play Westbury at 10am at gateway. Progressive will play Villagers at 10am at Floyd Bennett. Finals at Floyd at 2pm