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Some pitches ask you to hit through the line. This one punished anyone who tried, and rewarded the batters who were willing to be boring for an hour.
Singles as a strategy
The middle overs produced only four boundaries but almost eighty runs. Every ball placed into a gap became two, and the fielding side spent the afternoon chasing rather than setting.
It is not the kind of innings that leads a highlights package. It is the kind that wins matches on surfaces like this one.
The key points
- Four boundaries in overs eleven to forty
- Almost eighty runs scored in ones and twos
- Spin bowled twenty-two of the fifty overs
Defending a total nobody rated
At the innings break the total looked light. Two overs into the chase it looked entirely different, because the same slowness that frustrated one batting side now frustrated the other.
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This changed how I watch the powerplay. Thanks.