HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford Cricket opened their fall slate this past weekend in a thrilling match versus Philadelphia Cricket Club. Despite falling just short of Philadelphia's total in a dramatic run chase, Haverford showed that their young team will have a lot to offer in the coming matches and seasons.
The Fords lost the toss and were sent to field first with sophomore Sidd Phatak and junior Eugene Yang sharing the new ball. Phatak would start the season off right, taking a wicket in his first over after senior captain Samuel Monks made an excellent diving catch at mid-off. Yang and Phatak would continue to put the pressure on Philadelphia, allowing just seven runs in the first four overs.
Sophomore Deep Patel was brought on in the seventh over and was immediately effective in that role. His very first delivery forced the Philadelphia batter into a poor shot, which would be caught by first year debutant Ishpuneet Singh. Patel struck again in his very next over. The Philadelphia batter lightly tapped the ball just short of Patel, giving him a chance to showcase his fielding prowess while diving forward to make an impressive catch off his own bowling. Haverford did well to keep Philadelphia to 49-3 after the first 10 overs, but Philadelphia recovered through the middle overs. Despite one batter falling LBW to beguiling leg spin from sophomore Mohanish Bajaj, and another to Yang's nasty inswing, Philadelphia put up another 95 runs through the next 10 overs.
The Fords regrouped and ended the innings well. A consistent flow of wickets and economical bowling stymied the flow of runs with Bajaj piking up a key second wicket, and Singh picking up his first wicket for the college in his debut match with the Haverford XI.
Monks and Bajaj opened the batting for Haverford, tasked with chasing down 182 runs in 25 overs. The pair picked up runs consistently and put up 41 runs in the power-play before Bajaj was forced to depart. Monks was later joined by Phatak. The pair continued to push the Fords towards their total, putting up a quick 28-run partnership off 21 deliveries before Monks would be dismissed, scoring a quickfire 28 off 20.
Despite two more quick wickets at the other end, Phatak continued to bat with ferocity before finding consistency in junior Samanyu Kurra. The pair would put up 33 runs before Phatak would be dismissed, top scoring for the Fords with a vital 42 runs including six boundaries.
Phatak had brought the Fords within striking distance—needing 60 runs off the final 8 overs—and Kurra looked to see the Fords to the end. Sophomore Leo Greenstein provided a quick cameo, which included the only maximum of Haverford's innings on his way to his highest personal score.
Yang joined Kurra at the crease only to see Kurra depart in the next over. This brought on Junior Joshua Corbett after Kurra's personal best 18 runs off 20 deliveries. Corbett and Yang then needed 40 runs off the Fords final 30 deliveries. The pair showed excellent batting at the death, managing to stay within striking distance to the total while not giving away a free wicket. Preferring to score quick ones, twos and occasional threes, the pair brought the match down to the wire, needing 31 off the final four overs, then 21 off the last two overs, and finally needing just 13 runs off the final over.
Unfortunately for the Fords, tight bowling at the death meant the Fords only managed 5 runs in their final over, falling to PCC 174-7 to 181-7. Although they were disappointed not to make it over the line, Haverford was encouraged by their performance. The Fords saw some of the tightest bowling and fielding in recent years, while they demonstrated the depth of their batting. Corbett and Yang managed to put on 32 run eighth wicket stand, one of the highest eighth wicket stands in recent memory, while Yang's 25 runs and Corbett's 13 were each batters personal highest totals.
Haverford will face off against Merion next Saturday at noon, after their match against Maryland was cancelled on Sunday due to rain.