HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford Cricket put together a show-stopping performance to trounce the Temple University Club Cricket team by nine wickets this Sunday at Cope Field. In a match fueled by self-belief from the previous game, Haverford put together magnificent efforts with both the bat and ball to defeat an impressive side composed of Temple international students and alumni.
Haverford lost the toss on another sun-soaked day and very humid day and was put into the field first. Haverford's bowlers responded with a resounding opening effort. The new ball was taken first by Raghav Bali, who combined accuracy and pace to bowl a tidy first over. Coming in from the other end steamed Nathaniel Rolfe, who found success in his first over. A fast and full ball on middle stump was lofted by the batsman as he attempted to find the boundary, but only went as far as Bali's safe pair of hands at long-on. With a new a batsman at the crease, Bali followed up with renewed resolve and focus, shooting a quick ball by the off-stump that was flashed hard to long-on where Jake Kutchins held onto a difficult catch. With the quick bowlers finding rapid success, Kutchins was brought on early, a move that paid quick dividends when a fast ball that stayed trapped the batsman leg-before-wicket plumb on middle stump.
Wickets continued to tumble as Rolfe bowled out his full complement of overs. A short ball from Rolfe was struck straight into the hands of deep midwicket before a venomous bouncer from Rolfe was bottom edged through to wicketkeeper Matthew Leibold two overs later. With the Temple reeling from the utter batting collapse and desperate for runs, Haverford's bowlers smelled a short finish to the batting innings, with Temple looking shaky at 63 runs for the loss of seven wickets at the halfway mark. However, Temple's lower-middle order was not about to let go with a fight.
Settling in against the slower bowlers, they found their footing and hit the accelerator through a few overs. With runs flowing again, Haverford needed a breakthrough to slow down the ascent. Kutchins found the answer with a good length ball that was edged to gully where freshman Malcolm Thompson made his first career catch. In a mirror of this wicket, Cornell spun in a flat and quick delivery that was sliced straight to Thompson again at gully. With a few overs to go, Temple's batsman charged at everything, throwing their bat in a last-ditch attempt to squeeze together a few runs. Senior Isfar Munir however threw on the brakes in the penultimate over with a tidy over of incredibly accurate bowling that the batsmen could only hit for 2 runs. When the dust settled, Haverford stared at another chase of 128 runs, a mirror to the game of the previous day against the British Officers'.
It was a good omen,with the end of the tea break, Haverford's opening batsmen Kutchins and Rolfe walked out to the middle and put on another masterclass of batsman-ship. Both played with a mix of elegant and brutal strokes in a record breaking 75-run opening partnership. Kutchins dropped an early anchor in the innings, playing carefully and employing placement early on to score runs while Rolfe put together a contrasting innings at the other end. Rolfe set the tone with the fifth ball that he faced, which was smashed hard through cover-point for four with a powerful cover drive. With Kutchins sweeping well to exchange the strike regularly, Rolfe settled into for a clinical batting performance that left the spectators and fielders speechless.
Rolfe clubbed a ball with a vicious square drive through point for his boundary, only to follow up with a muscular pull shot that rocketed the ball away to the fine leg boundary. With this both batsmen settled into a brief lull where they refocused their efforts on the ball and exchanged the strike with wristy and clever strokes onto a dispersed leg-side fields; Kutchins was a master of placing the ball behind fielders for an easy couple of runs while Rolfe preferred drilling the ball hard into the outfield for runs. This was until a bowling change brought on a spell of full-pitched bowling that Rolfe dispatched with a vengeance.
Two four's were struck in rapid succession, the first coming from a lofted cover drive that sent the ball on its way to a one-bounce four past extra cover while the second was a struck with a ferocious straight drive that cleared the long-on fielder. A few balls later, Rolfe feasted on a short-pitched ball that hooked hard to the midwicket boundary for four. The next ball was dispatched for a monstrous six, the first one of the innings. Rolfe swung hard at a chest-high full toss; the ball was still rising when it broke the branch of a tree lining Cope Field. It was hit with such power that could not be found by the fielders and had to be replaced with another ball.
Not to be undone, Kutchins struck a powerful cut shot that cleared the point fielder for four at through backward point. Kutchins ended a magnificent anchoring innings when a difficult bouncer was fended to midwicket for a sharp catch by Temple's fielder. Kutchins, on the back of his 42 not out from the previous day, ended with a contrasting 35-ball innings for 16 runs, a display of grit and confidence in his defense that gave Rolfe the freedom to play his strokes. Rolfe was near the score-cap of 40 when he struck his final boundary, a well-timed sweep that zoomed straight in-between the fielder's legs and deposited itself at the fine leg boundary. Rolfe innings of 43-runs from only 31-balls was an incredible display of batting, with Head Coach Kamran Khan declaring it one of the greatest individual innings played by a Haverford Cricketer.
With the dismissal of Kutchins and the retirement of Rolfe, both Haverford captains were brought to the crease. Both set about to make quick work of the remaining runs. Boundaries rained in all over the pitch. Cornell hit a difficult back-foot straight drive straight past the bowler for 4, perfectly bisecting both long-on and long-off fielders. Bali, buoyed by his clinical performance the previous day, began by using excellent placement to confuse Temple's fielders. When the fielders where spread, Bali used delicate dabs that safely brought two runs at least, while close fielders were sent chasing the ball when Bali deposited it behind them.
Bali's first boundary was a ferocious slog that sent the ball through cow-corner for four. Cornell hit a few rapid singles to bring Haverford within inches of the target. With the scores level and Bali set at the crease, Bali achieved full extension of his arms as he slog swept a ball over the road and straight into a tree next to the Koshland Integrated Science Center for a monstrous six to seal the game. With a second nine-wicket victory in the same weekend, this match cap stoned an incredible week for the Haverford Cricket team.
Coach Kamran Khan declared this one of the finest weekends in his tenure as coach of the team. For his incredible bowling and batting performance and showmanship with the bat, Rolfe was awarded the Man of the Match award for this contest. This year's cricket team, made up almost exclusively of domestic students who hadn't played any cricket before coming to Haverford, will look to extend to the winning streak next weekend with a match against a well-grizzled and experienced team from Amwell Valley Cricket Club. That match is scheduled for Sunday, October 1st at noon on Cope Field.