Sri Lanka vs England: What is a ‘moon ball’ and why is it effective for Sam Curran?

With the growth of T20 leagues and batters hitting harder and further, bowlers like Curran are having to develop new techniques and an effective slower ball to get their revenge.

Former England quick Steve Harmison, who famously bamboozled Michael Clarke with a 65mph slow yorker in the 2005 Ashes, said Curran’s ability to disguise the delivery is key to its success.

“You can see his release point is a lot further back than [his off-cutter],” he said on TNT Sports.

“With the moon ball, he is just hoping that the batter gets lost in his movement and body shape.

“He holds the ball between his first finger and his thumb, throws the ball in the air and tries to keep the same arm speed, but the ball comes out behind him much slower.”

Ironically, it is the lack of speed that kills.

The delivery that fooled Nissanka was slower than all of spinner Rehan Ahmed’s previous six balls in the innings.

“It does get hit, but I feel if a batter knows I can do something a little bit unique, like when you face a mystery spinner, they might have a bit more doubt,” said Curran.