HAVERFORD, Pa. - Impressive bowling debuts from Haverford first-years Drish Israni, Keshav Kalani, and Mattias Lundberg saw Haverford College defeat an experienced USA Women's Development Squad by 10 wickets on Sunday.
The USA Women, in the Philadelphia region for a weekend long development camp, split into two teams. One team took on Haverford at Cope Field, while the other eleven played a touring Marylebone Cricket Club side, which included former England captain Charlotte Edwards, at nearby Merion Cricket Club.
The USA Women's side included two Haverford alumnae, Alisa Strayer '13 and Hannah Solomon-Strauss '12. Strayer was a standout on the varsity side during her time at Haverford while also competing on the squash team. Solomon-Strauss played Softball for the Fords and took up cricket after graduation.
The USA Women won the toss and elected to bat. With three members out for the season due to injury, Haverford's squad included five first-years (Keshav Kalani, Drish Israni, Mattias Lundberg, Ethan Flicker, and Jake Kutchins) and one junior (Alex Bitterman) playing in their first game for the college.
In the field, Haverford got off to a fantastic start. When after an appeal for LBW went unanswered, sophomore Andrew Cornell moved quickly from silly point, taking advantage of the confusion, and smartly flicked the ball into the wickets as the USA Women's opener Chelsea Douglas strolled out of her crease.
The next wicket fell in the fifth over. Israni, bowling his first ball for the college, pitched the ball short. The ball flew off the top of the bat to sophomore wicketkeeper Charlie Lynn. Wickets came quickly as Haverford's bowlers continued their impressive performances. Israni bowled extremely well, taking three wickets for just five runs. Kalani, despite a hand injury earlier in the week, took one wicket while giving up just eight runs. First-year Mattias Lundberg also bowled well, taking one wicket for nine runs.
Delkash Shahriarian, the USA Women's wicketkeeper and top batsmen on the day, was run out from a direct hit from first-year Jake Kutchins fielding at mid-off. The next wicket came again from impressive fielding. Ethan Flicker took a diving catch at fine leg. Facing the possibility of ending their innings with a low total, the USA women's took significant risks in the final overs. Two run outs and a wicket from senior captain David White in the final over meant the USA Women ended with 62 runs all out.
Junior captain Raghav Bali and Cornell opened the batting for Haverford. Cornell scored 34 runs off 32 balls, including four fours, to reach his highest total for Haverford. Bali scored 12 runs as Haverford lost no wickets and reached the total to win in just 8.1 overs. Cornell hit the winning runs, a shot towards long on, which Bali and Cornell ran for three, Bali enthusiastically celebrating having completed the successful chase.
A win against a highly experienced squad was made more impressive by the fact that the vast majority of Haverford's team only learned the sport at the college. Further optimism for the future of Haverford cricket will be found in fact that for the first seven wickets and through nineteen overs, only sophomores and first-years were involved in the taking of wickets. Haverford will host the British Officers Cricket Club next Sunday at Cope Field. The match begins at noon. Haverford will host the British Officers Cricket Club next Sunday at Cope Field. The match begins at noon.