Question

"The team ______ more than 300 runs in 20 overs ___________ rains. However, some players needed to improve their batting skills." Choose the option with the correct sequence of words to fill the blanks.

• A. score; despite
• B. scoring; instead of
• C. scored; despite
• D. scoring; in spite of

Hint:

Check which word matches the past tense used later in the sentence.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Fix the tense of the first blank.
The sentence ends with "some players needed to improve their batting skills," a clear past tense statement.
The first blank has to agree with that same past time frame, which rules out "score" and "scoring".

Step 2: Fix the preposition in the second blank.
"Despite" can sit directly before a noun such as "rains" without any extra word.
"Instead of" changes the meaning completely, and "in spite of" needs the word "of" that this slot does not give room for on its own.

Final Answer:
Both checks point to the same pair.\[ \boxed{\text{scored; despite}} \]