A cricket match is won by the team who scores more runs at the end of their innings. Eleven players bat and score runs to reach a the maximum total possible. The eleven players from the fielding team tries to restrict the batting side by getting their wickets or by stopping the flow of runs.
At a given time, two batters take to the field, each being on either side of the pitch. When ten wickets fall, the batting innings comes to a close. Each batter tries to score as many runs as possible to boost the team’s total. A good result for a batter would be to score 50 or more runs to have a significant contribution towards the team total.
There are instances when a batter gets out without scoring any runs. In such a case, the batter is said to be dismissed on a duck. However, if the batter is out without facing any ball, then the batter is out on a diamond duck. In some cases, a batter can be timed out, i.e., they fail to reach the crease in the permitted time. Since they did not face any ball, they too are said to be out on a diamond duck.
Apart from timed out, there are two scenarios wherein a batter can be out for a diamond duck. The first is when the batter is on the non-striker’s end, and is run out due to the ball hit by the batter is deflected off the bowler’s body. It may also happen that the batter at non-striker is run out by another fielder. Moreover, the batter can be out by the bowler through means of the non-striker run out. This is inflicted by the bowler when they notice that the non-strike batter is outside the popping crease before releasing the ball.
A batter can also be out on a diamond duck if the batter is stumped or run out on a wide ball. Since it is a wide ball, and hence an illegal delivery, the ball does not count towards the batter’s ‘balls faced’ statistic. Thus, they are dismissed on a diamond duck.
