HAVERFORD, Pa. - Haverford Cricket took on the University of Pennsylvania on Sunday, continuing one of the oldest intercollegiate sporting rivalries dating back to 1864. Haverford was able to return to winning ways against the Quakers in a rain shortened affair.
Bowling first, Haverford positively decimated the top of Penn's batting order. Usual opener junior Eugene Yang joined freshman Ishpuneet Singh to share the new ball. After a tidy first over by Singh, Yang struck first, beating the batter with his unreadable inswing. Singh struck in the next over with Senior Captain Samuel Monks making an excellent catch in the deep. In the fourth over, Yang's swing prevailed once again. After the ball went crashing into the batter's pads, the Fords shouted a passionate appeal for LBW. The decision was made much easier for the umpire after the ball continued off the pads and directly into the stumps.
Not to be outdone by Yang, Singh struck once more in the fifth over. Penn's batter played a soft drive and appeared to have safely struck the ball into no-mans land. Junior Samanyu Kurra, however, made an excellent catch, running backwards before diving back to complete the catch. At the end of the power play, Penn proved unable to both protect their wickets and score runs efficiently, sitting at a dismal 16-4. Penn's fifth-wicket stand proved a challenge for the Fords. Spanning eight overs and costing the Fords 68 runs, Penn managed to claw their way back into the game with their fifth wicket partnership. Sophomore Mohanish Bajaj would end this partnership, trapping the batter LBW with his impossible-to-read spin.
Despite the partnership breaking, Penn's danger batter was still at the crease after scoring a half century. He would attempt to pull a ball off Sophomore Deep Patel. The ball, however, would keep low, finding its way into the middle stump and helping the stump on its way out of the ground.
The remainder of Penn's innings was a draw between the sides—Bajaj would pick up another wicket and sophomore Sidd Phatak would take two wickets in the final over. Not to be outdone by Kurra, Singh helped Phatak find his first wicket with an excellent bit of fielding; the Penn Batter struck a laser of a drive over Singh's head, while Singh leapt into the air, throwing up a hand to catch this laser and dismiss the batter. Penn would rack up 40 runs in the final 6 overs despite Haverford's wickets, setting a total of 122 to win.
Monks and Bajaj opened the batting for Haverford. The pair scored a cautious 24 runs off the powerplay, knowing if they could conserve wickets at the start of the innings, they have the freedom to score quickly through the middle overs.
The weather had other plans. A sudden interlude of rain ended Haverford's innings after the seventh over. Unable to return to the field due to the rain, Haverford stood at 37-0 though 7.3 overs. Having completed the required 5 overs required to use DLS method, Haverford would walk away with a 9 run victory.
Haverford was pleased to see a strong performance in the field, with a few stunning catches and the efforts of Yang and Singh completely dismantling Penn's top order and will look to continue this form against Germantown Cricket Club in the coming weekend.