Result (cricket)

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).[1]

This is unusual in Test cricket: only two tied Tests have ever occurred.

In some forms of one-day cricket, such as Twenty20, a Super Over or a bowl-out is sometimes used as a tiebreaker to decide a result that would otherwise be a tie. In such cases, the result of the match is recorded in official statistics as Tie+W or Tie+L to indicate matches tied and then won or lost in the tiebreaker.

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.[1] A draw therefore occurs when one or both of the teams have not completed their 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 either avoiding being all-out if they are batting (i.e. by having two or more batsmen left at the end of play who are 'not out'), or, if bowling, by slowing down the scoring of the batting team. The match is then drawn regardless of the total of runs accumulated by either side.[2] Some league competitions allow for a "winning draw" (and therefore also a "losing draw"),[3] allocating more points to one of the teams based on factors such as run rates or overall runs scored. The official result is still a draw.

A "no result" is recorded if a limited over match which has been started cannot be completed, which usually occurs if weather or light interrupts play.[4] In the case of rain playing a factor, this is often known as the match being "washed out".[5] The result is effectively the same as a draw.

Limited overs cricket formats require that each team has to have the opportunity bat for a minimum number of overs in order for a result to be possible: 20 overs in One Day International cricket and five overs in Twenty20 cricket.

If each team is able to face at least this number of overs, a result is possible and can be calculated using the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method or other competition rules.

A match can be "abandoned" or "cancelled" if weather or other conditions prevent any play from occurring at all. If the bowler of the first over of play has not started his/her runup when the officials decide to abandon play then the result is termed 'abandoned without a ball being bowled'. Such a game is not included in official statistical records.

Before 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 for International matches 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.[6]

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.[1] (Note that this is not the same as the (voluntary) forfeiture of an innings under Law 15.) 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 during a match in January 1999 against England when Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing by umpire Ross Emerson (Muralitharan having previously been called for throwing by another umpire Darrell Hair in previous fixtures).[7] A similar case occurred in the Sydney Test in 1971, when umpires came close to awarding the match to Australia after England players withdrew during crowd disturbances.[8]

The only time that a Test match has been won in this manner 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 Hair alleged that Pakistani bowlers tampered with the ball. He did not name a player involved in the incident. Later during the ICC general body meeting in 2008, the result was changed to "match drawn", and then in February 2009 changed back to an England win.[9]

In one-day international cricket, on 3 November 1978, Pakistan were awarded the third ODI against India when India conceded the match in protest against short-pitched bowling. [10]

On 13 March 1996, in a World Cup semi-final held in India, Sri Lanka were awarded the match against India by default when crowd disturbances made it impossible for the game to continue. Sri Lanka were well ahead of India at the time. [11]

Law 16 allows a team to concede a match. This seldom happens, but it covers the situation where the scoreboard has in good faith displayed an incorrect score which is accepted by the "losing" team, who leave the field, thereby conceding the match to the opposition.