Recent comments in /f/sports

5m1tm t1_jabeaco wrote

Reply to comment by moondog548 in New Zealand defeat England by 1 run in the 2nd Test Match at Wellington by IntoThePeople

International cricket has 3 formats of matches: T20Is/IT20s (T20 Internationals/International T20s; last ~3-4 hrs), ODIs (One-Day Internationals; last a day), and Test cricket (last a maximum of 5 days). The former two have a sort of a "pitch limit" per innings. Test matches don't have that.

And an innings in cricket ("innings" is both singular and plural in cricket) is if all the players of a team are out and/or the pitch limit is reached or if the batting captain feels that their team has scored enough runs, and so declares the end of their batting innings (this is called a "declaration", and only happens in Test cricket). So the concept of a "half-Inning" doesn't exist in cricket.

Test cricket has 2 batting innings (and hence two bowling innings) per side, while the other two formats have one each and thus last for a shorter period of time (which is also because of the pitch limit which is built-in as part of those formats).

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Nizzleson t1_jabbgrx wrote

Reply to comment by moondog548 in New Zealand defeat England by 1 run in the 2nd Test Match at Wellington by IntoThePeople

A test match is the longest, oldest, and most demanding format of Cricket.

In more modern versions of the game, teams bat through their batting order only once each, and there is a limit to how many legal balls can be bowled at the batters. So it's a very linear game. Team A bats, then team B bats and tries to beat their score. Pretty simple.

But in Test Cricket, there is no limit on how many balls the batters can face and each team bats through their order twice. Batters can play very defensively, scoring slowly, without taking risks.

Bowlers and fielders have to constantly up their strategy game to counter this defensive batting.

But here's the thing: To win a test, you have to:

A) Score more runs than the other team, and...

B) Get the other team completely out, TWICE. If any batter is still batting at the end of the 5th day, it's a draw, no matter how many runs ahead they are.

The ball is kept in play for a long time, and as it deteriorates, strategy changes. The surface the ball bounces off of deteriorates too, influencing the strategy. Players are physically and mentally fucked after 5 days, so this effects everything too.

It's a densely layered game, and in this particular case, those 5 days boiled down to one measly run amongst hundreds scored in the match.

As close as it can possibly get.

All this after NZ was basically out for the count in the first two days.

Really fucking cool sport. The original form of the game, and days like today prove it's still the best sport in the world for nail-biting drama.

Rant over. Peace.

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IntoThePeople OP t1_jab78sk wrote

Reply to comment by moondog548 in New Zealand defeat England by 1 run in the 2nd Test Match at Wellington by IntoThePeople

You could just call it a Test as well. There are multiple shorter formats of cricket and they can be played very differently so it’s important to make the distinction between them.

For example in a 20 over match which usually takes about 3 hours, a small margin of victory like this would happen more frequently so it isn’t usually as noteworthy unless it’s a big game or tournament.

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5m1tm t1_jab4pto wrote

Reply to New Zealand defeat England by 1 run in the 2nd Test Match at Wellington by IntoThePeople

One of the best Test matches in the history of the sport!!!!!

Just the 4th ever instance in the history of the sport, that a team has a won after being asked to follow-on. And they've done so by a margin of 1 run. Literally the barest of margins for victory in a Test match. It's the joint-closest margin of victory in a Test match ever. And that too in a match that went well into Day 5. This is historic stuff!!!!!

I. Fucking. Love. Test. Cricket.

Anyone who mocks this format without understanding it, is a fucking fool

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