Twenty20 Cricket Rules

What is Twenty20?

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in the United Kingdom for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003. It is a type of single innings cricket in which each team bats for a maximum of only 20 overs and closely resembles a form of the game which has been popular in English amateur cricket since at least the 1960s.

20/20 Cricket Rules

In Picture: Logo of the English Domestic Twenty20 Cup

20 Overs
Teams have one hour 15 minutes to bowl 20 overs. In the first innings, the calculation of the number of overs to be bowled shall be based on one over for every full 3.75 minutes in the total time available for play up to the scheduled close of play. In the second innings of the match, overs shall be reduced at a rate of one over for every full 3.75 minutes lost, unless the first innings finished early / second innings started early in which case no overs are lost until the time that has been gained is subsequently lost.

Timed Out
The incoming batsman must be in position to take guard or for his partner to be ready to receive the next ball (or for his partner to receive the next ball) within one minute 30 seconds of the fall of the previous wicket.

The Result
Each side must have faced (or had the opportunity to face) five overs in order to constitute a match. The Duckworth Lewis Method shall be used in interrupted matches.

Restrictions on the Placement of Fieldsmen
Fielding restrictions apply for the first six overs of each innings.

Number of Overs per Bowler
Each bowler may bowl a maximum of four overs. In a delayed or interrupted match, no bowler may bowl more than one fifth of the total overs allowed unless such a number has been exceeded before the interruption.

Free Hit after a Foot Fault No Ball
This will apply.

Short Pitched Bowling
As in other one-day competitions, one short-pitched ball is allowed per over.

Over-Rate Penalties
The six-run penalty for each over not bowled will apply - all sides are expected to be in position to bowl the first ball of the last of their 20 overs within one hour 15 minutes playing time. In reduced over matches, the fielding side has one over's leeway in addition to any time that the Umpires may allow for stoppages.

Time Wasting
Umpires are instructed to apply a strict interpretation of time-wasting by the batsman (five-run penalties). Specifically, batsmen are expected to be ready for the start of a new over as soon as the bowler is ready.

Twenty20