Follow-on
also: enforcing the follow-on
In a multi-day match, the option for the side batting first to make the other side bat again after a big first-innings lead.
If the side batting second finishes its first innings a long way behind, the captain of the side that batted first can ask it to bat again straight away. The lead needed is 200 runs in a match of five days or more, 150 in a match of three or four days, 100 in a two-day match and 75 in a one-day match.
It is an option, not a rule, and many captains decline it: batting last on a worn pitch is hard, and the bowlers may be tired. The few times a side that followed on has gone on to win are famous because they are so rare, and a side asked to follow on is a strong signal about how the match has gone.
Treating a follow-on as the same as a team being bowled out twice. The side that follows on bats second and third, so its innings order differs from the usual alternation.
Where to get it
Related
Follow-on from the API
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