NEW DELHI:As batsmen around the world are coming up with inventive shots like switch hits and reverse scoops, bowlers also have to come up with new tricks to pick up wickets.
Bowlers try their best to outsmart or deceive batsmen through a combination of variations in pace, swing, spin, or other deliveries. Bowlers often use these tactics to break the batsman's rhythm and force mistakes.
But how Josh Hazlewood foxed Liam Livingstone to get his wicket in the 1st T20I between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday was a rare sight.
Bowling the 14th over, Hazlewood gave Livingstone a visual cue that he is about to bowl an off cutter, by showing back of his palm and an off cutter's grip for a brief period, but then changed his grip later to bowl a full pace delivery.
The delivery hit the hard length outside off and Livingstone looked to stab at it and got an inside edge onto his stumps. Even though there was hardly any movement of the ball by Hazlewood, no feet into the shot by Livingstone didn't help and the ball crashed into the stumps.
Chasing a 180-run target, England needed Livingstone to hang in there especially after the fall of Sam Curran but his dismissal for 37 left the hosts at 108/6.
England went on to lose the match by 28 runs.
Some fast bowlers slow down their deliveries or suddenly bowl quicker ones to disrupt the batsman's timing. Other bowlers use swing and seam to make the ball move unpredictably.
These strategies require a combination of skill, guile, and an understanding of the batsman's mindset to be effective.
Hazlewood displayed all that in one delivery in Southampton on Wednesday.
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