The scorching weather persisted as another blistering day in a sun-baked New York City with the temperature and humidity staying high in the upper nineties and projected to surpass the one hundred mark; Cosmos basked in the sun against Whim Boyz at Ferry Point Park last Sunday following Whim’s decision to bat after winning the toss.
The chance to strike early in the opposition’s top order slipped away twice in the opening over bowled by Ryan Ganesh when Alex Chunilall dropped a routine head-high catch at mid-off and in the same over Antonio Rooplall repeated the mistake at mid-on, offering K. Dhanraj two straightforward opportunities to attack, which he capitalized on. The Whim opening pair, Azeemuddin Khan and Dhanraj, then launched an assault on the Cosmos bowlers, who lacked consistency, delivering deliveries that were either too short or too full.
Dhanraj, the left-handed batsman, displayed an aggressive approach while Khan chose his shots carefully, constructing a purposeful innings. He punished any overpitched deliveries through extra-cover and played authoritative pulls through the mid-wicket area. A beautifully timed flick off paceman J. Mingo over square-leg stood out as the shot of the match. Cosmos struggled to find a breakthrough as Khan and Dhanraj put together a brisk opening partnership of 98 runs in just 9 overs.
A bowling change brought some respite as H. Carrington dismissed Dhanraj for a 32-ball 56 runs (3-4’s, 6-6’s). Cosmos clawed their way back into the game with a fine spell from Carrington, resulting in four more wickets falling by the twentieth over. Khan reached his fifty but had to retire due to heat exhaustion. He returned later and made valuable contributions towards the end of the innings before being dismissed for an impressive 82 runs as Whim Boyz finished at 222 for 9 in the allotted 30 overs. H. Carrington bagged 3 wickets for 23 runs, T. Thakoordeen 2 wickets for 49 runs, J. Mingo 2 wickets for 40 runs.
As Cosmos began their reply, they started well and reached 66 for 1 by the end of the powerplay overs in 8 overs. However, their innings unraveled quickly. It all started with a poor bit of running between the wickets resulting in a run-out. Within the next two overs, three more wickets tumbled without adding any runs to the total due to some careless batting, causing Cosmos to slump from 66 for 1 to a dismal 66 for 5 in 10 overs.
Afterwards, the slim chances of a fightback rested on Daniel Chunilall’s shoulders, but once he perished while trying to accelerate the scoring, all hope faded as Cosmos found themselves facing a steep climb, handicapped, and eventually were bowled out for a paltry 116 runs in 19.5 overs handing Whim Boyz a commanding 106-run victory. J. Pharous clinched 3 wickets for 22 runs, and H. Sattur took 2 wickets for 13 runs.
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