They had a purple patch before half-time but we held them out.

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Then, immediately after the third rain break of the match, Plunkett struck a purple patch, his swing aided by the floodlights and overcast conditions.

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The Jamaican is in the midst of a two-year window which some athletes seem to reach in their careers where they can do nothing wrong - a purple patch.

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Brown, whose other works include the short-lived Broadway musicals "Urban Cowboy" and "13, " and another acclaimed song cycle "Songs for a New World, " is enjoying a purple patch of late.

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The clash happened during a 15-minute purple patch for Kewell when the Australian international outfoxed the Russian defence three times, clattering in shots from acute angles that tested both Filimonov and his replacement, Andrei Smetanin.

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When I turned my gaze away from the rhododendrons, vivid bursts of yellow, white and purple caught my eye: I had just walked into a patch of primulas and primroses.

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