including cricket words

[lalda222]

dear sir, please explain 1. Kumble earned 4 wickets for 56 runs but he alone could not paper over the cracks of another pitiful batting display. it was the scalp that the tourist[ s. africa] craved and effectively scuppered their hopes of a challenging total. He struck a clutch of lusty blows to frustrate south african' rampant attack and embellish the tourists' victory target with 20 potentially princeless runs. He clubbed 7 sixes in a blistering display of clean hitting. He spooned back a chance to bowler Haris. He slammed five sixes in his pugnacious knock of 56 runs.


lalda

[Anglika]

Originally Posted by lalda222

Dear sir, please explain

1. Kumble earned 4 wickets for 56 runs but he alone could not paper over the cracks of another pitiful batting display.
It was the scalp that the tourist[ s. africa] craved and effectively scuppered their hopes of a challenging total.
He struck a clutch of lusty blows to frustrate South Africa's rampant attack and embellish the tourists' victory target with 20 potentially priceless runs.
He clubbed 7 sixes in a blistering display of clean hitting.
He spooned back a chance to bowler Haris.
He slammed five sixes in his pugnacious knock of 56 runs.


lalda

1 Kumble took 4 wickets against the opponents' 56 runs, but even this is not good enough to hide the poor quality batting.
2 It was what the South African team wanted and prevented [India] from achieving their goal of high level of runs.
3 He managed to get 20 runs that contributed to the Indian team's goal of a high level of runs that they needed to win.
4 He got seven six-run hits in a vigorous display.
5 He managed to get a chance to [?] bowl Harris
6 He hit five six-run ball in his aggressive series of 56 runs.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by lalda222

dear sir, please explain 1. Kumble earned 4 wickets for 56 runs but he alone could not paper over the cracks of another pitiful batting display. it was the scalp that the tourist[ s. africa] craved and effectively scuppered their hopes of a challenging total. He struck a clutch of lusty blows to frustrate south african' rampant attack and embellish the tourists' victory target with 20 potentially princeless runs. He clubbed 7 sixes in a blistering display of clean hitting. He spooned back a chance to bowler Haris. He slammed five sixes in his pugnacious knock of 56 runs.


lalda

I'll add a few explanations of tricky words.

the scalp that the tourist[ s. africa] craved: in some war-like cultures, fighting men 'scalp' their victims as a sort of trophy. In sports, people use the term 'scalp' to mean a person who is stronger than you on paper, and is well worth beating. 'Crave' is a strong way of saying 'want'.

scuppered their hopes: the scuppers are a sort of gutter that surrounds the deck of a ship. To 'scupper' a boat is to sink it. When one team scuppers another team's hopes, it makes their efforts hopeless.

A clutch of lusty blows: you'll find all these words in most dictionaries, but not one of them is the first you'll find:
a clutch = a small number (typically used of eggs in a nest)
lusty = vigorous
blows = hits (noun)

clubbed = hit crudely and powerfully, without any finesse or elegance

spooned back - the batsman hit the ball straight back to the bowler. It was not a hard/direct shot - he 'spooned' it (its trajectory was curved like a spoon - with the implication that he was doing a service, as one would feed a baby).

pugnacious knock - 'knock' here is a noun. In cricket, a batsman's knock is his innings [=his turn to bat]

Hope that helps.

b