The
Laws of cricket apply to Twenty20 with some exceptions:
Each bowler may bowl a maximum of only one-fifth of the total (generally 4, for a full, uninterrupted game) overs per innings.
Umpires may award 5-run penalty runs at their discretion if they believe either team is wasting time.
If the fielding team doesn't start to bowl their 20th over within 75 minutes, the batting side is credited an extra 6 runs for every whole over bowled after the 75 minute mark; the umpire may add more time to this, if he considers the batting team is wasting time.
The following
fielding restrictions apply:
No more than five fielders can be on the
leg side at any time.
During the first 6 overs, a maximum of two fielders can be outside the
30-yard circle.
After the first 6 overs, a maximum of five fielders can be outside the fielding circle.
If the match ends with the scores tied and there must be a winner, the tie is broken with a
bowl-out (similar to a
penalty shoot-out in
football), with five bowlers from each side delivering 1 ball each at an unguarded
wicket. If the number of wickets is equal after the first five balls per side, the bowling continues and is decided by
sudden death.
Should a bowler deliver a no ball by overstepping the popping crease, it costs 1 runs and his next delivery is designated a free-hit, from which the batsman can only be dismissed through a run out, for hitting the ball twice, obstructing the field or handling the ball, as is the case for the original "no ball".
[
edit] Impact
On
July 15,
2004,
Middlesex vs.
Surrey (the first Twenty20 game to be held at
Lord's) attracted a crowd of 26,500, the largest attendance for any
county cricket game other than a one-day final since 1953.
On
January 12,
2005,
Australia's first Twenty20 game was played at the
WACA ground between the
Western Warriors and the
Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sellout crowd of 20,700.
On
February 17,
2005,
Australia defeated
New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at
Eden Park in
Auckland. The game was played in a light-hearted manner - both sides turned out in kit similar to that worn in the 1980s, the New Zealand team's a direct copy of that worn by the
Beige Brigade. Some of the players also sported moustaches/beards and hair styles popular in the 1980s taking part in a competition amongst themselves for best retro look, at the request of the Beige Brigade. Australia won the game comprehensively, and as the result became obvious towards the end of the NZ innings, the players and umpires took things less seriously -
Glenn McGrath jokingly replayed the
Trevor Chappell underarm incident from a 1981 ODI between the two sides, and
Billy Bowden showed him a mock
red card (red cards are not normally used in cricket) in response.
The first Twenty20 international in England was played between
England and
Australia at the
Rose Bowl in
Hampshire on the
13th June 2005, which England won by a record margin of 100 runs. On
January 9,
2006,
Australia and
South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. In a first, each player's
nickname appeared on the back of his uniform, rather than his surname. The international match drew a crowd of 38,894 people at the
The Gabba. Australia convincingly won the match with
man of the match Damien Martyn scoring 96 runs.
On
February 16,
2006,
New Zealand defeated
West Indies in a tie-breaking
bowl-out 3-0; 126 runs were scored apiece in the game proper. The game was the last international match played by
Chris Cairns - NZC handed out life-size cardboard masks of his face to patrons as they entered the ground.
Starting
July 11,
2006, 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the
Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event has been financially backed by billionaire
Allen Stanford, who gave at least US$28,000,000 funding money. West Indies legends also backed the programme, and several "looked after" the teams during their stay in and around the purpose built ground in Antigua. It is intended that the tournament will be an annual event.
Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating
Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets.
[1] The top prize for the winning team was US$1,000,000, but other prizes were given throughout the tournament, such as play of the match (US$10,000) and man of the match (US$25,000).
[2]On
January 5,
2007,
Queensland Bulls played the
New South Wales Blues at
The Gabba,
Brisbane. A crowd of 11,000 was expected based on pre-match ticket sales. However, an unexpected 16,000 turned up on the day to buy tickets, causing disruption and confusion for surprised Gabba staff as they were forced to throw open gates and grant many fans free entry. Attendance reached 27,653.
[3][4]For
February 1,
2008's Twenty20 match between Australia and India, the
Melbourne Cricket Ground was sold out based on pre-ticket sales and 84,041
[1] people attended the match involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.
