HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford Cricket faced off against Merion Cricket Club on Saturday afternoon, marking their first match in almost two years. Despite losing 142-6 to 83-8, the starting eleven included an impressive eight debutants who showed Haverford Cricket has a promising future.
Sent to field first, the Fords opened their innings with the fiery pace of senior captain Guslesh Shukla and first year Sidd Phatak. While the pair was unable to make a breakthrough, they did well to hold the opposition to just 18 runs off the first five overs. The introduction of first year Mohanish Bajaj would prove to be just what the Fords needed. His deceptive leg spin caught the Merion opener off guard, dismissing the batsman LBW off just Bajaj's third delivery for the college.
Merion would recover, going on to 75 for 1 after 12 overs. Senior Simon Babb would be the next bowler to draw blood, inducing the batsman to loft the ball to the safe hands of junior captain Samuel Monks at mid-off. Monks's fielding would feature in the next over as well when a direct hit by Monks sent the batsman back for a diamond duck. Merion struggled after these two quick wickets. Joshua Corbett only made their woes worse, taking his maiden wicket off a poor timed shot to extra cover, where fellow debutant Nathaniel Moore made an impressive catch diving backwards to make one of the hardest snags of the match. Corbett managed to take 1/11 for the college, the best figures by a Haverford bowler for the match. A second catch by Moore would give Monks his first wicket of the season.
The final wicket came in the form of a run out, with Sophomore Wicket Keeper Rebecca Stern fielding a clean throw by Babb to dismiss the batsman run out. Stern was making her debut for the 'Fords. If her steady hands behind the stumps were not enough, her performance was all the more notable as she became the first woman to play Keeper for Haverford College.
The Fords were tasked with chasing down Merion's hefty 142 run total. Babb and Monks were tasked to open the batting for Haverford—the first time opening the batting for both batsmen. The pair played well, scoring 10 runs before Monks would be dismissed in the third over. In at 3, Shukla would seek to stabilize the innings, watching two partners fall at the other end before falling himself, tops scoring with 22 off as many deliveries.
Perhaps the gem of Haverford's innings was the partnership between Samanu Kurra and Stern. While four wickets had fallen in the first ten overs, it would take another 11 overs before one of partnership surrendered their wicket. Kurra managed to score a steady 11 off 31 deliveries in their 32 run partnership (the highest partnership of the innings). Stern proved just as reliable with the bat as she was with the gloves. The stalwart of Haverford's innings, she scored seven runs while seeing off 37 deliveries.
Despite a useful eight off 16 from Sophomore Eugene Yang at the tail end, the 'Fords were only able to manage 83 runs in their 25 overs. Standout performances from a team filled with debutants gives the 'Ford's hope that they can turn their luck around on September 12 when they face British Officers.