Score: Merion 156 -5; Haverford 161-7 (22.4/25 over)
Cricket faced off against a pair of old rivals this past weekend, beginning with the Fords playing host to Merion Cricket Club. An all-around performance—for once bolstered instead of hindered by a usual foe: wides—saw Haverford chase down a huge total of 156 in just 23 overs.
Fielding first, Junior Eugene Yang gave the 'Fords a killer start. Using his deadly swing, Yang induced a thick edge to Sophomore Mohanish Bajaj at gully on just the 5th ball of the match. First year Ishpuneet Singh combined well with Yang to produce an economical opening spell, with Singh contributing a maiden over in the powerplay.
Merion was able to recover from these early struggles, however, and it would take the Fords another 13 overs before they made another breakthrough. This was in large part thanks to Merion's opening batsman. Apparently tired of losing to Haverford, Merion brought in a ringer to open their batting and hopefully change their fortunes. Haverford had to tip their hats to this batsman, who would score an unbeaten century.
After an initial breakthrough by Bajaj's deadly leggies, Haverford was able to strike with more consistency. Bajaj was able to encourage a hard struck ball which was safely caught by Junior Nathaniel Moore in the deep. The very next over, Junior Joshua Corbett would be the one to strike. Tempting the batsman into a hard-struck pull, Junior Samanyu Kurra showed he wouldn't be hindered by the injury-riddled start to his season. Kurra made an astounding catch at square-leg, diving to his right to snatch the ball with a one-handed grab.
Yang and Bajaj would swap wickets to end the innings, with Yang out-doing the batsman with his swing, completely obliterating the stumps to clean bowl the puzzled batsman. Bajaj induced another poor shot, which was safely caught by Yang at midwicket.
Haverford knew it would take a steady innings to chase the 156 required for victory. Conservative strokeplay saw the 'Fords into the 4th over without issue. However, the quick loss of both openers in the 4th and 6th overs put the 'fords in a spot of trouble.
Sophomore Deep Patel (who was also making his colligate wicket keeping debut) provided stability to the Fords' innings. A well-tempered 13 off 23 provided stability, even when perpetual stalwart Sidd Phatak was out cheaply for 8. Patel's conservative demeanor was complimented by Moore, who looked to be racing for the victory. Moore scored a quick-fire 39 off just 28 deliveries. Even "moore" impressive, just 4 of his 28 deliveries were dot balls, demonstrating his ability to knock the ball around for quick singles.
Moore and Patel would eventually fall, along with Corbett's golden duck (for which he was awarded infamous Duck Award of Haverford Cricket's 2019 London Tour). However Eugene Yang showed his ever-reliable tail-end striking. His excellent off drives allowed him to score freely, while Singh made sure Haverford didn't lose any further wickets from the other end. Fittingly, Yang would score the final runs, ending with an unbeaten 21 off 25 and Singh finished with a career best 8 off 18. For his 2-47 and 21* off 25, Yang was awarded the Man of the Match.
Haverford showed their grit, with a comfortable and all-around victory against Merion Cricket Club. This was made all the more impressive by the fact that Haverford was missing Junior Captain Rebecca Stern and regular starter Leo Gruenstein.
Score: Haverford 117-4; Penn 121-4 (17.3)….Penn win by 6 wickets
Haverford Cricket rounded off a weekend of thrilling cricket with a match versus the University of Pennsylvania. Haverford ended their winning streak with a hard fought defeat against UPenn, defending a total of 117 for over 17 overs before falling to the Quakers.
Batting first, Senior Captain Samuel Monks and Sophomore Mohanish Bajaj built a strong innings. A conservative start followed by acceleration saw the Fords build a strong foundation to their innings. Tight bowling by Penn slowed the flow of runs early in the innings. Monks would be the first 'ford to depart, but lasting though the power play, he allowed the next batter, Sophomore Sidd Phatak, to open up early.
Phatak wasted no time, striking his second delivery for 4. While Bajaj scored 18 off his first 20 balls, Phatak and he would push the gas on Haverford's innings. Bajaj scored off his next 16 deliveries, Bajaj managed to amass an impressive 27, while Phatak scored a steady 17 off 18. While both Phatak and Bajaj found the boundary, Bajaj did so more frequently, scoring 2 fours and 2 massive sixes.
The pair would depart in consecutive overs, as Haverford fell from 71-1 after 11 to 79-3 after 13. This brought Junior Nathaniel Moore and sophomore Deep Patel to the crease. While Moore struggled to find his usual flood of boundaries, Patel proved his consistency. Joined by Sophomore Leo Gruenstein after the loss of Moore, Patel managed to rack up an unbeaten 15 off 18, while Gruenstein scored a personal best 13 off 15. This would leave Haverford at 117-4 after their 20 overs.
Defending a low total of 117, Haverford knew they had to bring their best performance in the field to defend this total. The loss of Junior Captain/wicket keeper Rebecca Stern to the National Mock Trial Tournament proved too big a loss for Haverford to handle. With Sophomore Deep Patel taking the gloves, Haverford was not only down their star keeper, but also down a bowling option.
The Quakers did not balk at the usual unplayable swing from Haverford's opening duo. It would take the introduction of Samuel "Smalinga" Monks would give the Ford's their first breakthrough, trapping the batsman LBW.
Despite this, Haverford was staring down a quick defeat going into the drinks break at 83-1, with just 35 runs to defend in the second half of Penn's innings. In an excellent show of grit, Haverford limited the Penn Batsman to less than 5 runs per over for the remainder of the match.
A series of economical overs was helped by newbie keeper Patel, who's quick hands dislodged the bails and stumped the Penn Batsman off Baja's Bowling. (Rumor has it that at this very moment Stern's felt a chill down her spine from Memphis, sensing Patel making a case to dethrone her as keeper).
Yang continued his phenomenal form, taking two wickets in what would be the penultimate over. Both Yang's Wickets were off hard hit drives to long on and long off, with the safe hands of Monks and Moore making the snags in the deep.
Despite the glimmer of hope Yang would offer the 'Fords, Penn finished the chase the very next over, with Patel taking off the gloves and bowling the final over. Despite some fine bowling by Patel, and even finer glovework by Joshua Corbett, Penn finished their chase off the first three deliveries from Patel.
This tough loss proved a valuable learning experience for the 'Fords. Forced to bat first for the first time this season, Haverford faced a new challenge in defending, rather than chasing, their totals. Haverford found their defensive form, albeit too late. But they will still be proud that they took a game which stood at 84-1 after 10 to 121-4 after 17.3.
This coming weekend Haverford will face Merion in a rematch of Saturday's match, as well as welcome the University of Maryland.