The result in a game of
cricket may be a win for one of the two teams
playing, a draw or a tie. In the case of a
limited overs game, the game can also end with no result.
Which of these results applies, and how the result is expressed is
governed by Law 21 of the
Laws of cricket.
Win
The result of a match is a win when one side scores more
runs than the opposing side and all the
innings of
the match are completed. The side scoring more runs has won the game, and the
side scoring fewer has lost. If the match ends without all the innings being
completed, the result may be a draw or no result (see below).
The
umpires also have the power to award a match to one side where the other
side either concedes defeat or in the opinion of the umpires refuses to play, in
which case the game can be deemed to have been
forfeited by
the side in question. This power is very rarely used. Before this rule was
introduced there had been cases in the international arena where one team has
refused to play, or deliberately stopped playing for a while. One notable
incident was when
Sri Lanka temporarily stopped play against
England when
Muttiah Muralitharan was called for
throwing by umpire
Darrell
Hair.
The only time to date that a
Test
match has been won by a forfeit is when umpires
Darrell
Hair and
Billy Doctrove awarded
England the
Fourth Test against
Pakistan on
20 August 2006 after Pakistan
refused to take the field at the scheduled time after tea on the fourth day.
This was because the Pakistanis were aggrieved at Hair awarding England five
penalty runs for ball tampering by the Pakistanis earlier in the day.
Tie
The result of a match is a tie when the scores are equal at the
conclusion of play, but only if the side batting last has completed its innings
(i.e. all innings are completed, or, in
limited-overs cricket, the set number of
overs has been played or play is terminally stopped by weather or bad
light). This is unusual, and in the history of
Test
cricket has happened only twice:
-
West Indies (453 & 284) tied with
Australia (505 & 232) in
1960.
- Australia (574-7d & 170-5d) tied with
India (397 & 347) in
1986.
In some forms of
one-day cricket, such as
Twenty20, a
bowl-out
(similar to a
penalty shoot-out in
football)
is used to decide a result that would otherwise be a tie.
Draw
The result of a match is a draw if a match is concluded, as defined in
Law 16, without being a win or a tie.
This means that a draw occurs when a team does not complete its innings by
the scheduled end of play. In matches where the number of overs is not limited,
therefore, a team unable to win may be able to 'save the draw' by managing to
not complete its final innings (i.e. by having batsmen left at the end of play
who are 'not out'). The match is then drawn regardless of the total of runs
accumulated by either side.
No result
A no result is effectively the same as a draw, but occurs only in
limited-overs cricket. With a limited number of overs, a team cannot bat to the
end of the match and secure a draw as above - if they have scored fewer runs
they have lost the game. A no result, therefore, occurs only when weather
conditions stop play before the second team have batted enough overs to have a
recalculated target under the
Duckworth-Lewis method or other rain rules. In
one-day international cricket, one team needs to have faced less than 20
overs (of the allotted 50 for a match) for a match to be a no result.
Abandoned
A match can be abandoned if weather or other conditions prevent any
play from occurring at all. If the
toss has not occurred, the match is recorded as having been 'abandoned
without a ball being bowled'. Such a game is not included in official
statistical records.
Prior to July, 2004,
the same result occurred if the toss had been taken but the match was abandoned
before a ball was bowled. Since 2004, the
International Cricket Council has decreed that a match where the toss takes
place but which is abandoned without a ball being bowled is either a draw or
(for a limited-overs match) a no result. Such games are now included in
statistical records, counting, for example, as a game played by the teams and
nominated players.
[1]
Statement of result
If the side batting last wins the match without losing all its
wickets, the
result shall be stated as a win by the number of wickets still then to fall.
E.g., in a single-innings match, if Team A bat first and make 200 runs, then
Team B make 201 after losing four wickets out of ten, Team B is said to have won
by six wickets, regardless of how many batsmen Team A lost during their innings.
In a two-innings match, if the number of runs scored in its first innings by
the side batting last is greater than the total runs scored by the opposition in
both its innings, the result is stated as a win by an innings and number of runs
short.
E.g., if Team A bat first and make 200 runs in their first innings, Team B
make 300 runs in their first innings, and Team A only make 95 runs in their
second innings, Team B is said to have won by an innings and five runs.
If the side batting last has lost all its wickets, but as the result of an
award of 5 penalty runs at the end of the match has scored a total of runs in
excess of the total scored by the opposing side, the result shall be stated as a
win to that side by Penalty runs.
If the side fielding last wins the match, the result shall be stated as a win
by runs.
E.g., if Team A bat first and make 200 runs, but Team B make only 192, Team A
is said to have won by eight runs.
If the match is decided by one side conceding defeat or refusing to play, the
result shall be stated as Match Conceded or Match Awarded, as the case may be.
If a match is unfinished when time expires, the result is a draw (this does
not apply to limited overs cricket), except that if all batsmen have been
dismissed and the totals are exctly equal, the match is a tie.
