What Is An Inning in Cricket? All You Need To Know!

An innings forms a part of the muse of the sport of Cricket. If you analyze what they are and how they paint, you may increase your understanding of the sport! I'm frequently surprised how many rookies in the game aren't optimistic about what an innings is, how many are in each type of Cricket, and how they're ended. If you're itching to know the solution to any of these questions or need to grab more data on this topic, stay with me because you'll discover precisely what you need to recognize via reading this article! First, let's preserve the basics…

What is an innings in Cricket?

In Cricket, 'innings' refers to how long a team or individual player spends batting. For example, a team innings is the total time one cricket team spends batting. Additionally, the word innings can describe a single batter's time at the crease.

Let's expand my example further. Imagine England bat first in a test match against Australia and score 400 with all ten wickets being taken by Australia. This score of 400 would be counted as a completed innings for the England team. Within that team innings of 400 runs, smaller individual innings belong to each England batter. For example, if Joe Root scores 150 runs as part of the team score of 400, this would be a vital individual innings contributing to a solid team innings! If Jos Buttler scored a swift 30 runs, this would be a smaller individual innings contributing towards the team total.

Now, let's move on to a few more questions you may want answers to…

How Many Balls Are There In An Innings?

The answer to this question depends on which type of Cricket you're talking about! Let's explore a few different types…

First Class Cricket

If you're talking about first-class Cricket (this includes cricket matches played over multiple days, like test matches and county championship games), then there is no limit on the number of balls that could be bowled throughout an innings!

This could be possible during a first-class match if one team were skilled enough to bat for 1500+ deliveries. However, a team's innings could have ended much quicker. A first-class innings will go on until the innings are completed by the bowling side, or until the batting side ends the innings themselves by declaring, etc. A first-class innings could also be terminated due to the end of the game occurring.

In first-class Cricket, no rule governs how long a batsman's innings can last. They can face as many balls as they like!

50 Over Cricket

Many international matches (One Day Internationals) and domestic limited-overs games are 50 overs per side. This means each team can bat for a maximum of 50 overs during a match! As many of you will know, 50 overs = 300 balls, so the maximum number of balls in an innings 50 over Cricket is 300.

Of course, not every inning in 50-over Cricket lasts for a maximum of 300 balls. A team could be bowled out much earlier, meaning the innings could last for only 100 balls or maybe even 60 balls or less! A team batting second could also chase down the target score in 200 balls rather than using the maximum 300 deliveries available. Therefore, the number of hops within a 50-over innings is variable up to 300 deliveries.

This game has no rule about the number of balls a batter can face in their innings. However, due to the bowling side only being able to deliver a maximum of 300 balls, one batsman could not possibly face more than 300 deliveries.

20 Over Cricket

In 20-over cricket matches, each team can bat for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty overs = 120 balls, so each team inning in this type of Cricket will be a maximum of 120 balls long.

As with all types of Cricket, the innings could end earlier if the batting team gets bowled out or chases down their target score successfully. So, all you need to know is that a couple of innings in 20-over Cricket could last for any number of balls up to the maximum of 120.

In 20-over Cricket, no rule describes how many balls batters are allowed to face throughout their innings. Although, no batter would be able to meet more than 120, seeing as this is the maximum number for the whole innings.

How Many Innings Are In Test Cricket?

In test cricket (and first-class Cricket in general), each team has the opportunity to bat twice, meaning that two innings per team are permitted in these games. This adds up to a total of 4 innings in test matches.

In most tests, you will see both teams have two innings each. However, this only happens in some tests! Sometimes, the team batting first will get such a big first-innings lead that they can enforce the follow-on (read more about on Cricket Clues), giving them a chance to win innings! An innings victory means that one team can force a win while only batting once, compared to the two times the opposing team batted.

In test matches that are affected by bad weather, you may also not get an opportunity to see both teams play the usual two innings each. For example, if 3 of the days are lost due to heavy rain, there will only be two days remaining in a test match for each team to bat twice! It is unlikely that four separate innings can be crammed into two days, which is why games that are affected heavily by bad weather often end in draws!

How Is An Innings Ended?

If you've read the rest of this post, you'll know that there are two types of innings in Cricket: individual innings', and team innings.' But how do you know when an innings is over? What has to happen for one to be ended? Let's briefly discuss this below.

Individual Innings

A batsman's innings end in a few main ways. They are as follows:

1. The Umpire gives the Batsman Out – When the Umpire raises their finger, and the batsman is given out, their innings are over! The referee will choose to give the batsman out for various reasons, and if you want to learn about all those, then click here to head over to one of my other posts that will explain them all!

2. The Batsman' Retires Hurt' Due To Illness Or Injury – If a batsman gets injured or ill during their innings, they may leave the field and fail to resume their innings. If the batsman does not return to the area before the team innings is ended, then their innings is over!

3. The Batsman's Team Is Bowled Out – If you've ever been batting while the rest of your teammates are bowled out around you, you'll know the pain of this one. Your winnings can be ended if the Umpire gives out the rest of your teammates. Even though you haven't been given out, you could eventually run out of partners, ending your stay at the crease.

4. The Game Reaches A Conclusion – If the cricket match ends while a batsman is midway through the innings, that innings will end with them being declared 'not out.'

Team Innings

Team batting innings also ended in a few distinct ways. Here they are:

1. The Batting Team Is Bowled Out – If a batting team loses all ten wickets, their innings will be over!

2. The Batting Team Captain Chooses To Declare – When the batting team chooses to declare, they voluntarily end their innings.

3. The Game Reaches A Conclusion – If a cricket match concludes for any reason, such as either side winning the game or a test match reaching the end of the scheduled five days, all innings that were in progress will automatically be ended. For example, if Australia are 250-5 chasing 350 to win a test match, but they run out of time, their innings will end with 100 runs short!

Conclusion

Reading this article may have armed you with the knowledge you need to understand the fundamentals of Cricket better! If you still have questions about how Cricket is played, you must locate masses of other posts on the website to cover some trickier topics.

Alternatively, if you need help with technical problems or want to realize how to enhance your cricketing skills, head over to my bowling, batting, and fielding recommendations pages, and notice if you may find something to help you!