Scorecards suggest there have been no close matches at Eden Gardens in this World Cup. But Virat Kohli — who had to summon every ounce of his skill and patience to carve his 49th hundred against South Africa here — will be the first to disagree. Playing through the line isn’t a long-term option on this pitch. Neither is attacking in the middle overs. So what do South Africa and Australia, seemingly light on spin, have to do on a pitch that offers appreciable turn, that too pretty early?
Build the innings
Win the toss, bat first, and hopefully win. Bangladesh may not admit they passed up the opportunity against Pakistan, but apart from them all other first-time batters— Netherlands, India and England — have worked out results in their favour at Eden Gardens. This isn’t a belter by any stretch of imagination. Seamers get to move the ball around at the start and spinners extract an average of 2.5° turn during the powerplays. Unlike other grounds, there isn’t much bang for buck when it comes to drives. But the square boundaries are smaller (around 65m on both sides), making pull, sweep and cut shots extremely effective.
Pace off the pitch comes down drastically though, making Eden Gardens one of the tougher pitches to bat on. Which makes it doubly important for the batters to maximise returns in the middle (10-40) overs. Both India and England showed that in their innings, scoring 148 runs (4.93 rpo) and 168 runs (5.6 rpo) respectively.
Esta historia es de la edición November 15, 2023 de Hindustan Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición November 15, 2023 de Hindustan Times.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Palestinian PM Resigns Citing 'New Reality' Of War In Gaza
The United States and other powers have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge of all Palestinian territories after the end of war
Future Perfect: The Kids Are All Right
Gill and Jurel hold out promise by simplifying a challenging chase to help India seal series
Akshay feels 'blessed' to have worked with OG Ramayan cast
Director Akshay K Agarwal shot a music video, Humare Ram Aaye Hai, with the cast of the 1987 TV show, Ramayanactors Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia and Sunil Lahri - in Ayodhya recently.
Musk's firm gets nod for Sat Net; joins Jio, Bharti
Starlink, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been allowed to offer satellite broadband services in India, two officials aware of the development said.
A temple, 169 years in the making
Through decades of design and reworks, hurdles in engineering and construction, HT pieces together how the grandeur of the Ram Temple was reclaimed
'Political interference' forces Vihari to quit Andhra cricket
After Andhra bowed out of the Ranji Trophy at the quarter-final stage with a four-run defeat to Madhya Pradesh in Indore on Monday, senior batter Hanuma Vihari launched a scathing attack on the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), saying he will never turn up for the state again.
Shafali, Kapp lead Capitals to a 9-wicket win over Warriorz
A blazing fifty by Shafali Verma (64₹, 43 balls) helped Delhi Capitals make a mockery of a target of 120 and open their account in the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Making 'unbelievable things believable', the Ayhika way
The India No. 7 was an inspired pick for the world team event and she repaid the faith, beating the Chinese world No.1
'Connected TVs to reach 45 mn by 2024-end in India'
With improvement in broadband penetration, Indian households are increasingly opting for connected or addressable TVs.
India chip strategy makes progress as $21 billion in proposals received
The Indian government, after years of watching from the sidelines of the chips race, now has to evaluate $21 billion of semiconductor proposals and divvy up taxpayer support between foreign chipmakers, local champions or some combination of the two.