Twenty20 cricket has infused excitement and entertainment of football matches in cricket. The inaugural ICC Twenty20 world cup, played in South Africa (2007) is testimony to the fact that this form of cricket is huge hit and more entertaining than a 50-50 overs one day international. Twenty20 cricket has certainly redefined the game of cricket. Twenty20 is a form of limited overs cricket, which was originally started in the United Kingdom for county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (EWCB), in the year 2003. In the twenty 20 cricket format, both the teams get to play a maximum of 20 overs. Within a span of just 4 years, this format of the game has spread around in all cricket playing countries and now we have at least one Twenty 20 game on most international tours. Many of the Test-playing countries have domestic twenty20 competition and others are catching up fast. The finals of the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World cup, played between Indian and Pakistan, has proved that cricket lovers all over the world would get to see many more such exciting and thrilling cricket in times to come.

The most exciting part of the Twenty20 cricket is that a game is completed in about three hours, which brings the game closer to other popular team sports like football. This form of Cricket was introduced to make the game more lively and attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television and that has been very successful.

Twenty-20 cricket format is the latest addition to the game of cricket. The format has gained great popularity in a short time and has brought a carnival type of atmosphere to the game of cricket. The laws of 20-20 cricket are a bit different.

Laws of Twenty20 Cricket

• The name “Twenty20″ implies that each team in a Twenty 20 cricket match will have a maximum of 20 overs
• A bowler can bowl a maximum of four overs.
• Free Hit: If the bowler bowls 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. The captain cannot change field setting and it will be the same as the previous ball.
• A maximum of two fielders can be outside the 30 yard circle in the first 6 overs. These overs are known as Power Play.
• For the remaining 14 overs not more than five players can be outside the 30 yard circle.
• Only 5 fielders can field on the leg side at any point of time.
• A new batsman has to come to the crease within 90 seconds after the dismissal of the previous batsman.
• The teams do not sit in the pavilion. Instead, they sit in the dug-outs, next to each other, just behind the boundary line.
• If a Twenty 20 match ends in a tie, the outcome is decided by a novel concept called bowl-out.

According to this (Bowl Out) Twenty 20 cricket rule, five bowlers from either team are allowed to a bowl each at the wicket with no batsman at the crease. The Twenty 20 rule states that the maximum time the wicket is castled by either team decides the outcome of the Twenty 20 match. If the match is still undecided the five bowlers are again required to bowl at the wicket.