Cricket commentary clichés

Cricket enthusiasts like me who watch the game regularly are so used to cricketing clichés, that we tend to ignore them. But for someone new to the game, some of these terms must sound like Greek and Latin. I've attempted to list down as many as I know, and have given basic explanations to what they mean. I've left out many standard cricketing terminologies, but there are already millions of websites for those definitions. This is just dedicated to quirky terms and phrases in commentary. 

I'm sure there are many more and you're welcome to add-on in the comments section. I will surely add them with due credit. So, enjoy!

Term	Meaning
Against the run of play	Something happens out of the blue. For example, when a wicket falls after a long partnership.
Attritional cricket	One team or both teams are playing slowly, especially when draw is a likely outcome
Beamer	The ball is delivered as a full-toss above the waist.
Beaten	The bowler bowls a delivery that the batsman is unable to play. Usually because of spin or seam.
Bump ball	A catch taken after the ball has bounced
Captain’s knock	The captain scores runs to take his/her team out of trouble
Charmed life	The batsman being lucky, multiple times. The opposing team drops his/her catches, misses run-outs, etc
Chin music	The bowler bowling short-pitched deliveries that go past the face
Chipping away	One team takes wickets at regular intervals
Coming in trickles	Runs coming at a slow pace
Convert 2s to 3s	Both batsmen running hard, thus ensuring that a regular two runs becomes three
Cow corner	An area of the field between deep midwicket and long-on. Usually batsmen don’t hit the ball there, and so cows can easily graze on grass in that area
Cruel game	Akin to ‘king once, pauper now’. For example, triple century in one innings, and a duck in the second. Or a hattrick in one match and being blasted for many runs in the next
Deceived in flight	The batsman is unable to read which way the ball will spin, where it will land and how fast it is bowled.
Decent clip	A bowler bowling fast enough
Dismiss from presence	The batsman smashes the ball, but elegantly
Down to the wire	A close game. Usually decided in the last over or even the last ball
Dropped shoulders	When the opposing team is in an unbeatable situation of the match
Duck	The batsman gets out on a score of zero
Edge	The ball hits the outer or inner part of the bat
Every run counts	The batting team gets runs through unconventional methods  - extras, runs off edges, overthrows, etc
Falling like nine pins	Wickets fall in quick succession, without the batting team giving a fight
Feather	When the edge is so tiny that it can’t be seen or heard
Fifer	The bowler takes 5 wickets
Flourish of the bat	The batsman stylishly moves the bat, after hitting the ball
Follow through	Movement of the body after the ball has been delivered (bowler) and after the stroke (batsman)
Form of his life / In good form	The batsman or bowler performs well consistently over a specific period of time
French cut	The batsman plays a stroke that was not intended. Usually, the ball takes the edge and goes in between the legs
Fresh legs	The batting team has younger players on strike
Full toss	The ball is delivered to the batsman without touching the pitch
Game played between the ears	The psychological aspect of the game is the most important, rather than the physical aspect of it
Glorious uncertainties	Unpredictability of the game
Gone	The batsman is out
Hammer and tongs	The batting team is scoring runs quickly, mainly through 4s and 6s
Hanging bat in the air to dry	The batsman tries to hit a stroke, but misses the ball completely
Healthy lead	In a Test match, when the team batting in the second or third innings has a large surplus of runs. The ‘healthy’ is contextual to the match
Huge wicket	A very important batsman gets out
In the hunt	The opposing team is not far behind in the game
In the V	The batsman hits a stroke, along the ground, between mid off and mid on. These two fielding positions make the V shape from where the batsman stands
Jaffa	The bowler bowls an excellent, unplayable delivery
Jagged back a long way	The ball has either spun, swung or seamed into the batsman
Kings pair	The batsman gets out on zero off the first delivery he/she faces in two consecutive innings
Left handers grace	Reserved for left-handed batsman who play elegant strokes
Live by the sword	The batsman in the search of quick runs plays reckless strokes, but also is in the danger of getting out
Long handle	The batsman hits 4s or 6s
Long hop / Rank long hop	The bowler bowls a short-pitched delivery that can be easily hit by the batsman.
Lucks a fortune	Similar to charmed life. Batsman gets lucky
Maiden over	No runs are scored off the over
Make them pay	When a catch is dropped off a batsman or a run-out missed, the batsman goes on to make a big score
Missed by a whisker	When the ball misses the edge of the bat by a very fine margin. Also same as feather
Murderous mood	The batsman wants to hit 4s or 6s off every delivery
Nelson's score	When the team score reaches 111 (or multiples thereof), a superstition that a wicket will fall.
Nervous nineties	Fragile state of mind of the batsman, when he/she reaches the score of 90, up until 100 is scored.
Nipped off the seam	The delivery swings away or inwards after the seam part of the ball hits the pitch
No matter how they come	Same as every run counts
Off the mark	The batsman scores his first run
One for the over	By law, a bowler can only bowl one bouncer per over per batsman. Refer chin music
Out of form	The batsman is unable to score runs for an extended period of time.
Overthrow	When the batsmen take additional run(s) because of a bad throw from the fielder
Pair	The batsman gets out on zero in consecutive innings
Percentage cricket	An individual or the whole team plays cricket in the right proportions. For an individual it could the right amount of defence and aggression, while for the team it could be the right amount of good batsmen and bowlers
Purchase off the wicket	When the bowler extracts movement off the pitch
Quick single	The batsmen cross over quickly before the fielder gets to the ball
Raining boundaries	The batting team hits 4s in quick succession
Rapped on the pads	The ball hits the pads; and an indication for the fielding team to appeal for an LBW
Rear-guard action	The opposing team starts fighting back, when its position is weak
Running away with the game	An individual or team has taken the initiative and scores runs or takes wickets; and is galloping towards victory
Running ragged	When the fielding team makes horrible blunders
Sailed over	After having bowled a bouncer, the ball flies over the wicket-keeper
Saved the blushes	The batsmen takes the team out of a tricky situation
Soft dismissal	Equivalent of an unforced error in tennis
Spell of bowling	A bowler bowls well in the course of a few balls or overs
Spot of bother	The batting team has lost more wickets than expected
Spring in the step	The opposing team feels energized because the tables have been turned
Strangled down	The batsman is caught by the wicket-keeper he/she has edged the ball down the leg side
Stroke / shot	Methods of bat hitting the ball
Stunned silence	When a noisy home crowd becomes quiet because its team has lost a popular batsman or the opposing batsmen have scored very quickly
Swing and a miss	The batsman tries to hit a stroke but misses the ball
Take eyes off the ball	The batsman doesn’t observe movement of the ball while taking evasive action. This could even lead to injury, or in worst case, death
Throw the kitchen sink	The batsman takes a mighty swipe at the delivery, but misses
Throwing caution to the wind	Same as  hammer and tongs
Toe crusher	A yorker delivery bowled at the toes of the batsman
Took off from a length	When the delivery rises after having pitched in the good-length area
Tottering	The batting team has lost quite a few wickets at a low score
Turn on the screws	The opposing team continues to kill the opposing team
Turn the game on its head	One team in a short space of time reverses winning positions
Until the cows come home	Playing very slowly, scoring runs at a slow rate
Until the fat lady sings	The game is not over till the last ball is bowled.
Wheels coming off	Same as running ragged
When you slash, slash hard	The batsman plays the cut shot ferociously
Wide open game	Any result is possible
Yorker	A delivery that pitches at the base of the stump. Difficult to play