Bowl-out

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A bowl-out (sometimes termed a bowl-off) is used in various forms of one-day cricket to decide a match that would otherwise end in a tie. The procedure is similar to a penalty shootout in football (soccer). Five bowlers from each side each deliver 2 balls at an unguarded wicket. If each team has hit the same number of wickets after the first 10 balls per side, the bowling continues and is decided by sudden death.

In some forms of domestic one-day cricket competition, a bowl-out is used to decide the result when the match is tied or rained out: for example, the quarterfinal of the Minor Counties Cricket Association Knockout Trophy in 2004, when Northumberland beat Cambridgeshire 4-2 [1]

In Twenty20 cricket, if the match ends with the scores level (either because both teams reach the same score after 20 overs, or the second team falls one run short of the target score under the Duckworth-Lewis method), the tie is broken with a bowl-out. A bowl-out was first used to decide a domestic Twenty20 match when Surrey beat Warwickshire in July 2005.[2] The first international bowl-out in a Twenty20 match took place on 16 February 2006, when New Zealand beat West Indies 3-0 in Auckland.[3] [4]

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has introduced the bowl-out should scores be tied in the semifinals and final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 according to the playing conditions of the tournament. The bowl-out will also be employed in the World Cup in the West Indies.

[edit] Notes and references