By Sham Ali
(Celebrating 46th Anniversary):- Cosmos Kings are carrying a heavy crown having fell short in their last two matches. In the absence of Alvin Gobin, Azam Yakub was trusted with the responsibility of leading the team when they took on Demroc at the “mosquito coast” Beach 58, Far Rockaway last Sunday morning.
While the mosquitoes are in camp planning for their massive invasion sometime in June; the date has not been announced, there were some buzz in the bushes whenever the ball infiltrated their territory, so as of now, the cricketers played in peace. We were equipped with our ‘off spray’ for any eventuality.
Demroc won the toss and elected to bat on a good wicket and fast outfield. Captain Yakub took his responsibilities very seriously and engaged the senior members for advice whenever necessary. It was Baveshwar Utam who plucked a sharp catch out of thin air at point for an early breakthrough, 22 for 1, however, a 2nd wicket partnership of 40 runs between A. Etwaroo and K. Singh consolidated the inning before it ended when Yakub brought himself on and severed the partnership when Utam, once again at point, took a blinderinches off the ground to remove Etwaroo (35), that gave Yakub his first wicket in cricket. At the change, Doneshwar Dayananad got his first ball to dance in the air and cleaned up N. Rampersaud, 81 for 3, in the 14th over.
At 119 for 3 in the 19th over, Kings were in good control of the match, however, the floodgates opened when the ball was handed to a few of the part-timers to get into the action; that is the intent of Sunday morning cricket. And action it was! Kings lost their jewels when they leaked buckets of runs in the last six overs, 107 to be exact. Kalash Singh (95 n.o), batted excellently making full use of some ranked long-hops, and with captain Antonio Handy (52) they featured in a 4th wicket partnership of 106 runs before Demroc inning closed on competitive 226 for 4 in their allotted 25 overs. A. Yakub, D. Dayanand, and A. Rambaran took one wicket each for 62, 23, and 30 runs, respectively.
It would have taken some good batting from the Kings line-up for them to counter the target, however, the loss of a few early wickets left them on the back foot. Devindra Balgobin and Utam featured in a good half-century partnership with Utam looking quite solid while taking a liking of the mid-wicket boundary, before he played an ambitious pull and top-edged to point, 70 for 3. Demroc then ceased the opportunity to pounce on Kings middle-order with Lodhi steaming in and in the process removed Dayanand, Rambaran and Yakub without any further movement of the needle on the scorecard as Kings found themselves in some serious trouble. Balgobin played a lone hand for a solid 69 not out as the Kings inning closed on 107 all out in the 17th over. U. Lodhi took 5 for 24, and K. Jagdeo 3 for 22.
