HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford met Germantown on Cope Field this weekend in another comfortable win for the Fords. With the senior players getting so much time in the middle, Germantown's and Haverford's captains decided at the toss to make it a 30-over affair, with captain Sanil Kagalwala hoping the extra overs would provide more match experience.
Junior Nihaal Kochar shared the new ball with first-year Zaki Siddiqui to open the match. Kochar provided the first breakthroughs for Haverford, taking two in the powerplay. Not to be outdone, Siddiqui made sure to find the stumps before being given the keeping duties for the second half of the match.
Despite Kagalwala taking a wicket, the Fords showed their vulnerability with the longer format as the team let the energy dip in the middle overs and Germantown's experienced batsmen kept the runs ticking.
A mid-innings water break allowed the side to reset and lock back in. Vivaan Hingad broke the burgeoning partnership two overs after the break, tempting the batsman to lob the ball right back into his waiting hands. Hingad struck just two balls later, this time dismissing the dangerous batsman who was beginning to threaten a half-century. Hingad's loopy delivery tempted an ill-conceived drive, which found the safe hands of Kochar at mid-off.
Kochar would join junior captain Agastya Singh to clean up the tail, with Singh taking one wicket and Kochar taking two more, finishing with a four-for. While Germantown's 147-run total was certainly chaseable, it would require maturity and safe batting from the Fords.
A shake-up to the batting order proved immaterial as Kochar, now batting one down, would replace Singh early in the second over. While Kagalwala would fall to the classic "back-to-back no-balls followed by a peach on the stumps" trick, Kochar's stabilizing presence prevented any collapse while he scored his third consecutive 40.
He was joined by Siddiqui, who finally got to show his leg-dominant hitting prowess. In a breakout batting performance, Siddiqui patiently tapped deliveries outside the off stump for a few runs and demolished anything on the legs for a boundary (or at least a very deep two).
While Kochar would be sent back after a failed experiment between the wickets, Siddiqui would finish the match off with sophomore Rasik Waikar. The underclassmen showed the promise in Haverford's future: Waikar found every gap, scoring 11* off 10 without scoring a boundary, while Siddiqui finished with an unbeaten 30, showing his ability to access the off-side with a beautiful reverse sweep to end the innings.
