PHILADELPHIA - Haverford capped off its fall slate with a late-October matchup, traveling to Germantown Cricket Club for the first time in several years. Once again losing the toss, Haverford was asked to field first.

Opening bowlers Nihaal Kochar and Zaki Siddiqui opened the bowling well for Haverford. Kochar managed to trap the batsman in an LBW so plumb you could bake a cobbler out of it. For his part, Siddiqui dislodged the stumps with a delivery that swung so much the batsman was talking about it all the way back to the pavilion. His second wicket came from a ball skied to senior Rohan Sarma, who had been waiting all season to show off his safe hands. Naturally, the ball was caught, and another batsman was sent back grumbling about his low score.

The rest of Germantown's order followed suit, with wickets shared all around. Junior captain Agastya Singh picked up two wickets ahead of his departure for Copenhagen next semester, and fellow captain Sanil Kagalwala took one of his own.

Once again, junior Vivaan Hingad's tedium got the better of the opposition. Hingad picked up a four-for in just 3.3 overs. His first wicket saw the batsman clean bowled, while his second saw the ball driven to Singh at long-off. Kochar outdid the theatrics of his first catch with an excellent dive forward to take Hingad's third. His final wicket ended Germantown's resistance, with the batsman already through his shot well before the ball tapped his pads for a soft LBW.

While 108 off 30 overs seemed doable, Germantown's pitch proved too much for Haverford's chase. On the most inconsistent pitch in recent memory, deliveries cut in and out, kept low and popped up without any rhyme or reason, and Haverford was unable to mount much resistance.

That was until Rustom Dubash came in. Haverford was at 37 for 5 wickets after 12 overs when Dubash came in. The next delivery brought Haverford's sixth wicket, making Dubash the only proper bat remaining.

In a heroic performance, Dubash hogged the strike, knowing he had to take the risky pitch on himself to protect his counterparts. He managed to slowly tick through the score, defending the wicket with Test-like patience and a classy front-foot defense while having to change partners every few overs as wickets continued to fall.

After the 26th over, Haverford needed 25 runs off the final 4 overs with just one wicket to spare. After Haverford eked out just one run in the 27th over, the equation was much harder, and Germantown hoped to attack Haverford's 11th batsman, sophomore Anish Moore.

Moore would have none of this, with a convincing single off the first ball of the 28th to put Dubash on strike. Moore's speed helped Dubash score freely as he worked the ball away for double after double. An eight-run over ending with Dubash stealing the strike meant Haverford was back in the match—just 15 required off two overs with Dubash on strike.

With nine deliveries left, Dubash sent the ball quickly to a deep fielder. "Yes" was the initial call, but Dubash needed a two to keep the strike. Dubash was outdone by his own power as the ball raced to the fielder—no time for two!

Moore was sent back, but it was too late. The bails came undone, and the resistance was over.

Cricket is a fickle game, and had one or two deliveries cut a different way, Haverford could be celebrating an amazing comeback instead of lamenting its 3rd heartbreaking defeat. Despite this, a new finisher emerged in Dubash, whose score of 35 was well over twice the next-highest score for either team.

Despite finishing 2-3, the Fords learned valuable lessons. They were never out of the game and continued to show grit to the very last ball. This grit, a promising freshman class and upperclassmen continuously showing their prowess mean Haverford has a lot in store for the spring!