A Tale of Two Innings
Batsman#1 comes to the crease when his side is at 71/5, and needs 169 runs in 163 balls to win. Shortly thereafter, the batsman at the other end gets out. Batsman#1 decides to knuckle down and play a sheet anchor role, while his new partner assumes the role of the aggressor. They put together 117 runs in 104 balls, and manage to get the target down to 52 in 5 overs. In the partnership, Batsman#1 scores 43 (68b) at a slow strike rate of 63. Unfortunately, the aggressor gets out in the 48th over.
Batsman#2 comes to the crease when his side is at 71/3, and needs 171 runs in 183 balls to win. Shortly thereafter, the batsman at the other end gets out. Batsman#2 decides to knuckle down and play a sheet anchor role, while his new partner assumes the role of the aggressor. They put together 110 runs in 130 balls, and manage to get the target down to 45 in 5 overs. In the partnership, Batsman#2 scores 51 (83b) at a slow strike rate of 61. Unfortunately, the aggressor gets out in the 45th over.
These 2 seperate stories have had almost identical arcs till now (except that the team of Batsman#1 was in a much deeper hole to start with).
But now starts the divergence. Both batsmen, after losing their partners, have to step into the aggressor role. Batsman#1 starts well, but is run out just 3 balls later by a piece of brilliant fielding. Batsman#2 rides his fortune and manages to pull his team’s score level with the opponents.
No prizes for guessing the identities:
- Batsman#1 is MS Dhoni, the ‘villain’ of the CWC2019 semifinal
- Batsman#2 is Ben Stokes, the ‘hero’ of the CWC2019 final
And now, the moral(s) of the stories:
- Confirmation bias is a bitch
- Narratives are shaped by outcomes
- The game has very fine margins (so does life). But… Jo Jeeta Wo Sikandar
