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The tenth variation of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup volition instrumentality spot successful India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8, 2026.
Twenty teams volition beryllium competing successful 55 matches for the accidental to triumph cricket’s astir prestigious T20 trophy.
But cricket is simply a crippled with a database of commonly utilized presumption and phrases that mightiness confuse those caller to it.
In this illustrated guide, Al Jazeera breaks down cricket lingo and helps you recognize the crippled beloved by astir 2 cardinal people.
What is the purpose of the game?
Cricket is simply a bat-and-ball athletics played betwixt 2 teams consisting of 11 players each.
The crippled is divided into 2 parts, known arsenic innings.
In the archetypal innings, pursuing a coin toss, the archetypal squad bats portion the different squad bowls and fields.
The batting squad should effort to people the highest fig of runs successful the allotted time, portion the bowling squad has to effort to forestall them from scoring.
The bowling squad has dedicated bowlers, portion the remaining players, dispersed crossed the ground, effort to forestall the batters from scoring runs arsenic good arsenic drawback the shot to get the batters out.
In the 2nd innings, the bowling squad present gets a crook to bat and effort to people much runs than their opposition.
The squad with the highest fig of runs astatine the extremity of the time wins the game.
What does T20 mean?
There are 3 antithetic formats successful cricket, each with its ain duration and rules.
Each format has its ain defined acceptable of “overs”.
An “over” consists of six deliveries by the bowler.
In a T20 match, which usually lasts 3 to 4 hours, each squad is fixed 20 overs (120 balls) to people the astir fig of runs. This format of the crippled is designed to beryllium shorter and faster-paced, which provides much excitement for spectators.
A One Day International (ODI) lucifer typically lasts astir 7 to 8 hours. Each squad is fixed a full of 300 deliveries, which are divided into 50 overs, to people the astir fig of runs.
A Test match is the longest and oldest format of the game, played implicit a maximum of 5 days. It is considered a trial of endurance and skill. Each time has a minimum of 90 overs. Both teams person 2 innings each.
The cricket tract and pitch
Cricket is played successful a large, oval-shaped field, typically astir 150 metres (164 yards) successful diameter astatine its widest constituent and surrounded by a bound rope.
In the centre of the tract is the pitch, a rectangular country astir 20 metres agelong (22 yards) and 3 metres (3.3 yards) wide, wherever astir of the enactment takes place.
At each extremity of the transportation are 3 woody sticks known arsenic wickets oregon stumps, with 2 bails atop them.
The batter stands successful beforehand of these wickets wrong a specified country known arsenic the batting crease. It is from determination that helium oregon she volition onslaught the incoming shot from the bowler.
During the match, the batting squad volition really person 2 players connected the field, 1 connected either extremity of the pitch, to instrumentality turns successful hitting the ball.
The bowling team, meanwhile, volition person each 11 players scattered passim the tract to minimise the fig of runs their opponents tin score.
Some of the astir communal positions are shown below:
How are runs scored?
The purpose for the batters is to people arsenic galore runs arsenic imaginable by hitting the shot successful the gaps betwixt the fielders oregon implicit the bound rope.
To people a run, the batter needs to deed the shot and then, unneurotic with their batting partner, tally to the other broadside of the transportation earlier the fielder returns the ball; otherwise, they tin beryllium tally out.
A azygous tally is scored erstwhile some batters safely implicit 1 run, a two-run erstwhile they implicit 2 runs, and truthful on.
If a batter hits the shot on the crushed and it reaches the bound rope, past 4 runs are awarded.
To awesome that 4 runs person been scored, the umpire moves his close manus from 1 broadside to the other, repeatedly waving it backmost and distant horizontally.
Umpire Paul Reiffel (R) signals 4 runs during a Test lucifer betwixt West Indies and India [Randy Brooks/AFP]The maximum, six runs, is scored erstwhile the batter hits the shot straight implicit the bound earlier it bounces. This changeable is the astir rewarding but besides among the riskiest, owed to the chances of getting bowled oregon caught.
To awesome a six, the umpire volition rise some hands supra his head, which the fans volition often imitate.
Umpire Michael Gough (R) signals for six runs during a One Day International cricket lucifer betwixt Zimbabwe and Ireland [Jekesai Njikizana/AFP]How does a subordinate get ‘out’?
There are respective ways to get a batter out, with each retired referred to arsenic “losing a wicket”.
Since cricket is played with pairs of batsmen, erstwhile 10 players from the batting squad are dismissed, their innings concludes, and the sum of the runs they scored sets the people people for the bowling team.
The astir communal ways of getting a subordinate retired include:
Bowled: This happens if the batter misses the ball, and it goes connected to deed the wicket.
Caught: A batter is caught retired erstwhile they deed the shot and a fielder catches it earlier it touches the ground.
Run-Out: A run-out happens erstwhile the fielding squad throws the shot astatine the wicket portion the batter is trying to people a tally and earlier they tin scope the other broadside of the pitch.
LBW (Leg Before Wicket): This determination depends connected assorted factors, but successful a nutshell, a batter tin beryllium fixed retired LBW if the shot hits their legs portion they are lasting successful beforehand of the wicket, frankincense preventing the wicket from being hit.
To awesome an “out”, the umpire who is lasting successful the mediate of the tract volition rise his scale digit to signify that a batter has been dismissed.
This motion is often referred to arsenic the umpire having “raised the finger” oregon “given the finger”.
The on-field umpire signals an retired for Australia’s Pat Cummins earlier the determination is overturned pursuing a reappraisal [Andrew Boyers/Reuters]How bash you work the score?
To travel the people successful cricket, you request to look astatine 3 numbers.
The archetypal is the fig of runs a squad has scored – the higher the number, the better.
The 2nd indicates the fig of “outs” oregon “wickets”. Once 10 players are out, their batting innings travel to an end.
The 3rd is the fig of overs that person been bowled.
Combined, a people whitethorn look similar this: 109-5 (10 overs)
This means that 109 runs person been scored, 5 players are out, and 10 overs person been completed.
(Al Jazeera)Typically, teams marque anyplace from 100 to 250 runs during a T20 match. A people of 100 is considered debased to defend, portion 250 runs is usually precise strong.
The highest people successful planetary T20 cricket was betwixt Zimbabwe and The Gambia successful 2024.
Zimbabwe batted archetypal and scored a immense 344-4 successful their 20 overs. In response, The Gambia lone managed 54 runs earlier losing each 10 of their wickets.
Zimbabwe won by 290 runs.
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