Querl too much for off-song Etonians

Harrow 177 for 3 (39 overs, Querl 65*, Crawley 54*) beat Eton 176 (55 overs, Ball 51, Querl 4-26) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Harrow's Harper dives to take a spectacular catch in front of the Tavern © Cricinfo

An superb allround performance from Glen Querl helped guide Harrow to a relatively straightforward seven-wicket win over Eton in the schools' annual battle at a sun drenched Lord's. On the 200th anniversary of the first meeting of the two, Harrow dominated from the start and rarely allowed a disappointing Eton side a look in.

A large and vociferous crowd enjoyed a spirited performance in the field from Harrow, and Eton never really recovered from a sedate start in which they did not reach 25 until the 14th over. Harper and Querl were impressive with the new ball, and then Coaker used his height and tight control to pin Ball and Bruce down.

After scoring 18 at a run an over, Ball finally opened up with two lofted fours and sumptuous cover drive, and the introduction of the wayward Travis into the attack - a strange decision to replace the parsimonious Coaker - breifly enabled Eton to finally boost a poor run rate. Travis shipped 29 in three overs, and Eton appeared to be steering to safety when the legspin of Pelham - the seventh bowler used in two hours - was introduced in the over before lunch. He turned his second ball prodigiously to bowl Ball behind his legs for 51, and Eton never recovered.

After the break, Pelham struck again to have Rawlinson well caught by Matthey, the wicketkeeper, for 34, and then Querl bowled Rowland-Clark and Reynolds with successive balls to leave Eton in tatters. Their tail wagged spasmodically, but Harrow's zealous fielding and tight bowling never let them escape from the shackles.

Harrow's Glen Querl: star with both bat and ball © Cricinfo

Travers's captaincy was rather unconventional, with bowling changes coming with ever increasing regularity, and few of his seam bowlers were given any chance to settle. The slightly bizarre chopping and changing was epitomised when he brought himself back to bowl at the death despite his earlier efforts. Harrow's poor over rate would have left most county captains facing a fine, but in the end it didn't matter.

Whereas Eton's start had been dilatory, Spencer got Harrow off to a flier, hammering the fast but wayward Bruce for 11 off his first over before he was well caught low down in the gully by for 17. Northeast, the highly-rated 15-year-old, began with a confident punch to the cover boundary before falling to Bruce for 8, and then Travis added to Eton's misery with a breezy 26.

Querl joined Crawley at 70 for 3, and the pair batted with carefree confidence, adding 107 in 22 overs. Crawley, who played a confident anchor innings, brought up his fifty off 90 balls, while Querl's took just 62 balls, as Harrow romped to victory with 16 overs to spare.