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 subject-verb tense agreement first, then pick the preposition that means "although" rather than "instead of."

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The sentence talks about a match that already happened, since the second sentence says "some players needed to improve," a clear past-tense fact. We need a verb form for the first blank that fits this past narration, and a linking word for the second blank that shows the team scored well although it was raining, not in place of the rain.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Two checks decide this question. First, a bare present participle like "scoring" cannot stand alone as the main verb of a sentence without a helper verb such as "was" or "is"; only "score" (present) or "scored" (past) can act as the main verb here. Second, "despite" and "in spite of" both mean "although," while "instead of" means "in place of," which does not fit a team playing through rain.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Option (B) "scoring; instead of" and option (D) "scoring; in spite of" both start with "scoring," a present participle. Used alone, without "was" or "were" before it, "scoring" cannot form a complete main clause, so both are ruled out on grammar grounds alone.
Between the remaining choices (A) "score; despite" and (C) "scored; despite," the difference is only tense: "score" is present tense, "scored" is past tense. Since the rest of the passage is clearly past tense ("needed to improve"), the first blank must also be past tense, so "scored" is correct and "score" is wrong.
This leaves "despite," which correctly links the team's high score to the interrupting rain: the team scored well although it was raining. "Instead of" would wrongly suggest the team scored 300 runs in place of rain, which makes no sense.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The complete, grammatically correct sentence is: "The team scored more than 300 runs in 20 overs despite rains. However, some players needed to improve their batting skills."
\[ \boxed{\text{scored; despite}} \]