As most teams have adopted a new approach of consolidating their innings and keeping wickets in hand to launch a final assault in the slog overs during this Champions Trophy, we have witnessed more and more teams losing their way during the middle overs.
South Africa lost their last 8 wickets for 51 runs against India, slipping from 140 for 2 to being bowled out for 191. Sri Lanka, while chasing South Africa’s total of 299, were similarly reduced from a comfortable position of 116 for 2 to all out for 203.
Pakistan, in their first match against India, were placed in a comfortable position at 114 for 2 and they were bowled out for a total of 164. England slumped from 128 for 2 to all out for 211 against Pakistan in the semi-final.
And Bangladesh were cruising in their semi-final match against India at 154 for 2 in the 28th over until they lost three crucial wickets which pegged them back to a modest total of 264.
The middle overs have thus become the most crucial time during this Champions Trophy tournament. But why are teams losing wickets in clusters and losing their way after good starts? Let us find out.
#1 Lack of composure when under pressure
An ICC Champions Trophy is a big event where the value of experience always makes the crucial difference in the end. Virat Kohli for example, has repeatedly mentioned that the team with the most amount of composure is likely to triumph in the big matches.
Truly, India have made the big difference because more often than not they have shown the necessary composure to tackle pressure with a clinical hunger and fortitude. The value of experience has mattered in those situations as India have a squad comprising players of whom many had won the 2013 edition of the tournament.
Teams with relatively inexperienced members have struggled to do well as they buckled under pressure. A classic case was Pakistan’s loss to India in their first match. Similarly, England after a good start lost their way in their semi-final against Pakistan. South Africa suffered a dramatic collapse from a comfortable situation in their last group match against India.
It was pressure of playing a big encounter and the lack of composure that made them lose their way in the middle overs.
#2 Drying up of runs during the middle overs
The popularity of T20 cricket has brought about a huge change in the way batting teams approach the game nowadays. Gone are the days when teams would try to go ballistic and take advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first 15 overs.
Batting teams now are more concerned with not losing too many wickets and getting off to solid starts. They then gradually accelerate, with wickets in hand, hoping to score big off the last 10-15 overs.
With wickets in hand, teams approach these last few overs like T20 cricket to try to double their score. The way India have played in this tournament so far is a good case in point.
But this also poses a troublesome dilemma for batting teams. If they have lost a couple of wickets, they very often try to consolidate and ensure they do not lose any more batsmen. This necessitates a more cautious approach and the bowling opposition, very often, sensing it as a good opportunity, put a squeeze on.
Indeed, fast bowlers like Hasan Ali or spinners like Ravindra Jadeja who operate during the middle overs have been crucial to their respective teams’ success.
As teams have adopted a more conservative approach during these middle overs, they sometimes fall into their own trap on seeing that the run-rate has gone a tad low. This in turn has led to unnecessary shots and wickets in the process.
#3 Bad decisions
Not being able to rotate the strike freely has contributed to a lot of game-changing run-outs in the Champions Trophy this year. Just as it is considered to be a cardinal sin for a bowler to bowl a no-ball, it is similarly a mistake of epic proportions for key batsmen to lose their wickets thanks to sloppy running in crucial encounters.
The virtual Group B quarter-final between India and South Africa is a case in point where South Africa lost three batsmen in the form of run-outs. Two of those wickets were that of AB de Villiers and David Miller which saw them catapult from a stage of relative comfort at 140 for 2 to being bowled out for a paltry 191.
But that is not the only instance in this tournament. The run-outs of Dinesh Chandimal in the third match between Sri Lanka and South Africa was just as crucial which started Sri Lanka’s collapse, as is the case with the run-out of Shoaib Malik against India in their first match of Group B.
#4 A good spell
Cricket in its simplest form is a contest between bat and ball where either of those has to triumph in the end. And if we are looking at dramatic collapses of batting teams after a good start, one simply has to take into account a good bowling spell.
A good bowling spell might either be a case of a bowler troubling opposition batsmen or in limited overs cricket, it could just be a good spell of tight, economical bowling which increases the pressure on the opposition batsmen.
We have been lucky to witness both in the Champions Trophy this year. When Sri Lanka were bundled out for 203 while chasing 300 against South Africa, it was the leg-spin of Imran Tahir that did all the damage as he came away with a spell of 4 for 27.
England who were touted to be one of the tournament favourites were sent packing by Pakistan in the first semi-final thanks to a brilliant spell of 3 for 35 by Hasan Ali in the middle overs. It is his bowling during the middle overs that has been the success formula for Pakistan in this tournament.
And in the second semi-final against Bangladesh, it was Kedar Jadhav’s golden arm that brought India back into the contest. Bangladesh were cruising at that stage but it was Jadhav’s double-blow coupled with his economical bowling that helped India restrict Bangladesh to a modest total.
#5 No partnerships during the middle overs
Partnerships are the backbone to any big innings in the absence of which batting teams tend to easily lose their way during the middle overs. On too many occasions, the lower middle orders of teams have struggled to establish themselves in face of opposition bowlers.
From Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to Tamim Iqbal, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli, the top three batsmen have dominated this tournament. But middle order batsmen have generally found it tough to get going when wickets are falling which has led to teams losing wickets in clusters during the crucial middle overs.
With the exception of Bangladesh’s mammoth, match-winning 224-run 5th wicket partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah against the Kiwis and the 159-run 4th wicket partnership between Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, all 100-run partnerships in the tournament have come between the top three batsmen of each batting line-up.
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