Haverford College 113/3
Merion Cricket Club 113/9
Haverford Wins by 7 wickets
HAVERFORD, Pa. – In the first game of the spring season, the Haverford College cricket team showed its full potential as it trounced over Merion in an incredibly close and thrilling game. Haverford elected to bowl first, and chased down a total of 113/9, equaling the score on the last ball when seven was needed off the last over. Since Haverford owned more wickets in hand at the end, the Fords came out the victors.
Haverford's bowling prevented any partnership from forming and kept a steady stream of wickets flowing, including three overs where two wickets were taken in each. Senior and opening bowler Ty Joplin took two wickets in the first over with his pace bowling and full-length deliveries, followed by a tidy series of overs by junior captain David White who kept the run-rate down to a crawl. Junior Raghav Bali and Freshman Andrew Cornell tore through Merion's middle order with five wickets total, and senior Ruben Aguilar took another wicket from a one-over spell.
Freshman Patrick Arace took a stunning catch in deep fine leg to dismiss Merion's top batsman and ensure a small total for Merion's batting side. Junior Richard Phillips also took an excellent catch in covers when a batsman smacked a ball off the middle of the bat right to him.
When sent to bat, Haverford's Andrew Cornell and fellow freshman Nathaniel Rolfe opened with a 46-run partnership, with Cornell scoring 22 and Rolfe scoring 24 at a healthy run-rate. After both got out, Haverford found its stability in the in-form Raghav Bali and David White, who scored top-scored with 35 and 22 respectively.
Haverford's win is made even more outstanding by two crucial factors. First, that 10 out of the 11 who played are American-born cricketers who learned the game while at Haverford, and second that of those 10 players, four are freshmen who have only been playing the game one semester.
These four freshmen, Andrew Cornell, Nathaniel Rolfe, Patrick Arace, and Charlie Lynn, wicketkeeper, all show unprecedented promise as players and intend to make Haverford's cricket team into one of the most competitive teams in the region. Next week, Haverford faces off against Amwell Valley Cricket Club at home on Sunday, April 24, starting at 12 noon.
