As the Harvard cricket team was scoring the 150th of its eventual 159 runs at Soldiers Field yesterday, one of the Yale camp followers somewhat facetiously commented that now he knew how Crimson followers felt in the Yale Bowl last fall.
The difference yesterday was that instead of running up its point total as Jordan Olivar had, the Crimson cricketers graciously declared themselves out with the loss of only eight of its permitted ten wickets. It was a combination of good-sportsmanship and faith in their own bowling, plus, parenthetically, a great thirst which called for liquid refreshment, beer rather than tea.
As it turned out, the Crimson's point total was more than enough, as Yale was able to score only 48 runs before the loss of all its wickets, giving the Crimson revenge for last year's unfavorable draw.
The ending was rather tense however, for the teams had agreed to adjourn at 7:30 p.m. (it began at 2:45) and at 7, the Elis still had four wickets in hand, threatening to turn a clear win into a draw. However, splendid bowling by the Crimson's Barry Eastment and Charlie Mills enabled the eleven to put the Elis out with two minutes to spare.
Included in these last four outs were two legs before wickets, and catches by Keith Lowe and captain Mansoor Ali. Lowe's in particular was spectacular as he made a diving catch of the ball inches off the ground as it had come fast off the bat of Nigel Anthony.
Vice-captain Eastment, an M.I.T. graduate student and former business school student from Australia, was the most effective batsmen as well as the top bowler for the Crimson. Opening batsman, Eastment scored 45 runs before being called out for putting his leg before the wicket. In bowling, Eastment took 4 wickets for 27 runs. Mills, the third Crimson bowler took three wickets for 12 runs, while Ali took one wicket for four until forced to retire with a shoulder strain.
Ali scored 39 runs, while Dick Carey and Mills each scored 21. Lowe was fifth high scorer with 19 runs, followed by Ali Binns with 5 and John Andrews with 4. Captain-elect John Frith, Donald Shojai, and Philip Higgins had not yet batted when the Crimson declared.
This win over Yale, coupled with the strong showing against the touring Pakistan international side several weeks ago, makes the Crimson probably the strongest collegiate cricket team in the country.
A large measure of the credit for this, according to captain Ali, must go to the H.A.A. whose support for the fledgling club has helped it considerably and is responsible for the renascent interest in the sport in the Harvard community.
Cricket at Harvard is truly an Experiment in International Living, for yesterday's eleven was composed of players from six countries: Australia, England, Jamaica, Hyderabad, Bermuda, and Canada. The Harvard Cricket Club has members from all the schools of the University as well as Eastment and Binns, who is currently enrolled in Wentworth Institute.
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