HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford made just one change to the starting eleven that defeated the USA Women last weekend. First-year Matthew Leibold made his debut for the college as he replaced fellow first-year Keshav Kalani who missed out due to illness.
The British Officers Cricket Club won the toss and sent Haverford into the field. Senior David White and junior Raghav Bali opened the bowling for the college. Haverford's bowlers initially struggled to impose themselves on the match. Numerous extras, combined with a strong batting performance from the opposing opening batsmen saw BOCC find early success.
The initial breakthrough came in the third over. White's bowling towards the off stump finally found success as BOCC's opener nicked the bowl to sophomore wicketkeeper Charlie Lynn.
After the first wicket fell, Haverford found few opportunities as BOCC raced away to 70 runs off nine overs. First-year Ethan Flicker's catch at long off saw the Fords' bowling regain some momentum. Wickets fell in successive overs to leave BOCC with 90 runs through 12 overs and five wickets down.
A dry spell for Haverford resumed as BOCC's total accelerated further. Haverford's bowling found success late on as they bowled BOCC out for 175 runs in 23.5 overs. Haverford's wickets came primarily from good catches. Senior Chris Hadad, fielding mostly at mid-wicket took two crucial catches. Further catches from Bali, White and Lynn also assisted Haverford's bowlers. White led the bowling taking three wickets. First-year Drish Israni continued his form from last week grabbing two wickets. First-year Mattias Lundberg, Bali, and sophomore Andrew Cornell took one wicket each.
Facing the challenge of chasing 175 runs in 25 overs, Haverford sent Cornell and Lundberg into bat. The difficulty of the chase was elevated early on as the Fords lost Lundberg inside the first over. Bali came to the crease with the difficult task of needing to score quickly, but also stabilize the batting to ensure that further wickets were not lost.
Bali and Cornell, who combined so well to give the Fords their opening win against the USA Women, were in fine form once more. After a hesitant start, Haverford's batting gathered speed. Cornell had nine fours as he scored his first half-century for the college. Off 49 delivers, Cornell hit 62 runs. Bali scored 43 runs off 43 balls. The 110-run partnership between Bali and Cornell made Haverford's target seem suddenly in reach. Through 16 overs, Haverford were at 137 with two wickets down. White explosively added 29 runs off just 19 balls. White hit one six, four fours, and scored 19 runs in a single over, before being dismissed harshly from an excellent one-handed catch from the BOCC fielder at mid-wicket.
After White's wicket fell, the bulk of the run scoring for Haverford was complete. With seven overs left to play, Haverford needed just twenty-two runs to complete what had at times seemed like an improbable victory. A few extras, four runs from Chris Hadad, three from Drish Israni, and twelve from batting debutante junior Alex Bitterman, who hit two fours, saw the college reach the necessary total inside 22 overs. Haverford's impressive batting, with noteworthy performances from Cornell, Bali and White easily was enough for a second successive victory.
The win extends Haverford's streak of victories, the longest since 2011, to three games, after ending last season by beating the visiting Australians.
Haverford will take inspiration from their batting performance and successful chase, but will look to improve their bowling as they seek to continue their unbeaten record next week. The Fords travel to the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill on Saturday and Merion Cricket Club on Sunday. Both matches begin at noon. Haverford will conclude its fall season with a home fixture against Malgudi Cricket Club on October 1.