Listing 1: Forcing a Merge Join Gives Worse Performance USE Northwind -- Copy the two tables. SELECT * INTO o1 FROM Orders SELECT * INTO od1 FROM [Order Details] -- Create the indexes. CREATE CLUSTERED INDEX orders_index ON o1(orderID) CREATE CLUSTERED INDEX OD_index ON od1(orderID) SET STATISTICS IO ON [Start callout A] SELECT * FROM o1 JOIN od1 ON o1.orderID = od1.orderID -- Now force a merge join. SELECT * FROM o1 INNER MERGE JOIN od1 ON o1.orderID = od1.orderID [End callout A] 1