What are Death Overs in Cricket?

If you have watched a cricket match on TV, you must have heard commentators or experts talking about death overs. 

Now the word ‘death’ must have left you gobsmacked and prompted you to wonder about its relation with cricket.

Here, we’ll glance at the meaning of death overs, along with their significance in cricket.

Death Overs in Cricket

You see, the death overs are also like the other overs. The only difference is that they are at the end of an innings of a limited-over match.

For instance, in ODI cricket, a single innings has 50 overs, and the last 10 overs are referred to as death overs. Likewise, in T20 cricket, the last 4 overs out of the complete 20 are called as death overs.

Significance of Death Overs

The death overs are quite crucial for both batting and bowling sides in a cricket match. That’s where the action peaks at the highest level, bringing everyone to the edge of their seats.

For a batting team, the death overs mean increasing their scoring rate, be it batting first or chasing a target. The death overs are also known as slog overs, and batters look to slog every ball out of the park to post mammoth totals, making bowlers’ lives hell.

For a bowling team, the slog overs are a challenging phase to bowl. The bowlers need to bowl an accurate line and length to keep a lid on the scoring rate. If they miss their line and length even by inches, then they will have to endure a hammering from the batters.

Death Over Specialists

Both teams have a few players in their arsenal who are experts at batting or bowling in death overs. They are known as death over specialists.

These death over specialists are tasked with specific roles to get the most out of the last few overs.

Batters: Every team has a set of 3 or 4 batters who are good at finishing the innings. They put a low price on their wicket and take calculative risks to gather as many runs as possible.

Such batters possess a lot of power and find boundaries with ease. Moreover, they know how to perform under extreme pressure using a calm and composed approach.

Bowlers: Similar to batters, each side has 2 or 3 death over specialist bowlers on their roster. Most of the time, pacers are entrusted with the tough job, but spinners may also bowl in the slog overs.

To stem the flow of runs, bowlers need to use their variations like yorkers, knuckle balls, slower balls, googlies, carrom balls, etc., to trouble the batters.

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