Rules of Twenty20 Cricket

Twenty20 cricket is the new and dynamic version of cricket. The purpose of Twenty20 is to popularize the game of cricket all over the world. Therefore the rules of Twenty20 is little bit different and interesting from standard cricketing rules.

A Twenty20 game is completed in about three hours, with each innings lasting around 75 minutes.


Twenty20 cricket – Rules

The basic rules of Twenty20 cricket are fundamentally similar to a one inning one day international cricket match. Each team in a Twenty20 cricket match has a maximum of 20 overs.


Rule 1 : The Free Hit
This Twenty20 cricket rule states that following a no-ball as a result of overstepping, the next ball shall be a Free Hit. For this ball, the batsman is not given out by any way in the cricket rules apart from being run-out.

Rule 2 : Power to the Umpires
Umpires may award five runs to one of the teams playing the Twenty20 cricket match, in case they feel that the other team is needlessly wasting time.

Rule 3 : Twenty overs within 75 minutes
This rule imposes strict penalties on bowling teams not completing their alloted 20 overs within 75 minutes. As per this rule of Twenty20 cricket, a bonus of 6 runs is awarded to the batting team in case the bowling team does not begin their 20th over before 75 minutes.

Rule 4 : Bowling Restrictions
Bowlers can bowl a maximum of 4 overs.

Rule 5 : Fielding Restrictions
Only 5 fielders can field on the leg side at any point of time. A maximum of two fielders can be outside the ring in the first 6 overs and a maximum of five fielders can be outside the ring for the remaining 14 overs.

Rule 6 : Bowl-outs
This rule applies to matches that end in a tie. This rule introduces a novel bowl-out to decide on the outcome of the Twenty20 cricket match. Five bowlers from either team are allowed to bowl two balls at the wicket with no batsman at the crease. The maximum times the wicket is castled by either team decides the outcome of the Twenty20 match.