dot ball

British

noun

cricket a ball from which a run is not scored

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of dot ball

when no run is scored, the scorer places a dot in his or her record book

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Despite the mountainous task facing Kohli and India on Sunday, their noisy fans had high levels of expectation, cheering every dot ball.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2023

Williamson sliced the next delivery through point for four to level the scores before Fernando bowled a bouncer that was close to being called wide on height but was ruled a dot ball.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2023

“He was always trying to bowl dot balls. A dot ball is a good ball, he’d say. Last ball of every over had to be a dot ball.”

From Reuters • Jun. 7, 2020

The charging cut shot is brought out from the last ball, but Bailey at cover makes a sensational diving save to make a four into a dot ball.

From The Guardian • Feb. 5, 2016

Another six was followed by a four, before Fuller produced a dot ball.

From The Guardian • Jul. 24, 2012

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023