"Momentum - The ability to keep increasing or developing; the force that makes something move faster and faster"
In Cricket the term Momentum also means the same thing when a team moves faster or kept on increase its domination over opposition then it becomes very easy for them to achieve positive results over their rivals, now after creating your momentum you need to keep on maintaining the domination over your opponents which ultimately results in invincibility, however in cricket, I believe invincibility is not possible, cricket is after all known as a game of uncertainty, but we have few examples of invincible teams in past, who carried their domination for years over other teams, but as a team when you have the momentum you need to make sure that don't surrender the momentum meekly.
when a team is dominating another team or as a team when you are on a driving seat against the opposition team or dominating them in every part of the game then make sure you maintain it, don't let the steam dry, don't remove the foot from the pedal because if somehow you lost the momentum then the opposition team whom you were dominating, will get the momentum and from there on it will be your team which will be dominated, in the past, we have seen lots of examples that how a certain team garnered a huge momentum in the match, then somehow lost the momentum in the middle somewhere and due to that the end result was defeat in a certain match or a defeat in the series.
How momentum effects cricket?
In the past there are lots of examples that suggest how a cricket team which has carried the momentum with them and remained invincible for a long time and become a dominant force in world cricket, take for example the Australian side of the 90s or in early 2000s they have created a team which was full of multi-talented cricketers, the team which had an envious record they carried this amazing momentum for almost two decades, yes they were few blips here and there but overall they were the team to beat.
They have won almost every tournament, defeated every opponent, and dominated every team in all the versions of the game, that's how they have ruled over the cricket over the years and lost their momentum only after all of their major key players retired.
But there were also certain times when Australia wasn't able to carry their momentum and handed defeats, like for example in the year 2001 when Australia toured to India they were already a huge dominating force they were not only world champions but also they have won 15 consecutive test matches, then-Australian captain Steve Waugh looked confident to finally defeat what he considered as or called as
'Final Frontier'
.
On the other hand, the Indian cricket team was going through troubled times, match-fixing allegations have taken the cricket world by storm and Indian team wasn't completely untouched by it and a new captain for the Indian team has been selected, with Saurav Ganguly in helm things were not looking rosy at all for the Indian team.
Australia won the first test of the series and 16 consecutive test matches on the trot and looked to win the series as well.
2nd test which was held in Kolkata again showed the dominance of Australians with they scoring 445 despite Harbhajan's hattrick and then dismissing the Indian team for 171 and were asked to follow-on, till that momentum was with Australians but a stubborn 376 run partnership between Laxman and Dravid completely swung the momentum in the favour of hosts and they won the match, with the momentum now somewhat favoring India, they won the final match of the historic series in Chennai and retain the Border Gavaskar trophy by 2-1 series result.
For another example where both team actually made great use of momentum actually was from Australia's historic tour of South Africa in 2005-06, in the closely fought 5 match ODI series, where South Africa won the first two games and then Australia won the 3rd and 4th match respectively, this led to the culmination of the series in the fifth and final match of the series which was later come to known as
"the greatest ODI ever".
In the final match of the series, Australia batted first and score a mammoth 434/4 (50 overs) with all the experts showering praises on the Australian side for scoring a total that looked to stay unachievable by any other team in any quick time, however, Proteas have other ideas not only they chased the total with 1 ball to spare in this match momentum swung throughout the match but at the end, South Africa was the ultimate winner and scorer of the then highest score in ODIs.
Recent Examples
Let us share now recent examples of the recently concluded India's tour of Australia (2020-21) from which it will become evident how momentum has its own effects on the game, in this tour India lost 3-match ODI series to hosts Australia 2-1, however, Indian cricket team won the T-20 series and swung the momentum at their side, however after this test series began, in the first test match (Daynight) in Adelaide India got a small but important lead of 53 runs, however before they can make the lead count Australian bowlers demolished Indian batting line up and they were all out for just 36 runs in their second innings, Australia won the first test match quiet easily.
After the heavy defeat in the First test and after Indian captain Virat Kohli took a parental leave it looked certain that the Indian team is staring towards another heavy series defeat in down under, but Rahane and his team proved everyone wrong. In the second test match in Melbourne, Indian bowlers stopped Australia at 195 and then Indian batters scored 326 thanks to captain Rahane's 112 (Australian fielders dropped many catches of Rahane and handed the advantage to India) with 131 runs lead in hand, Indian bowlers again dismissed Australia for exact 200 runs and then chased down 70 runs with 8 wickets to spare, this how the momentum which was gained by the
Australian team after the first test was surrendered to the Indian team, and Indian team make sure that they drawn the match held in Sydney and later on go on to win the fourth and final test held in Australia's fortress Gabba, Brisbane and create history.
Final words
:-
As it has seen previously I am sure that momentum will keep on affecting the game in its own way and will keep on affecting the outcome of the matches with people will keen on to win momentum and keep their domination over others, it won't be easy but still what is that which is easy in cricket.
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