Twenty20 is a form of cricket restricted to 20 overs per side. It was introduced in England by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for a professional county club competition. The game was introduced as a form of cricket that would appeal to a wider audience with the whole match concluded within 3 hours, thus moving it more within the realm of the popular appeal of other sports. The ECB wanted the game to be more suitable for television and to sit alongside other forms of the game: One Day Cricket and Test Match Cricket.
Since its inception the game has proved increasingly popular and has spread around the cricket world. Most international tours now include at least one Twenty20 match and all Test-playing nations have a domestic cup competition. The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 tournament was played in South Africa in 2007 with victory going to India by just five runs in a thrilling final against neighbouring Pakistan. The 2008 tournament was cancelled due to the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan won the 2009 competition, defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets and England won the 2010 event with a 7 wicket win over Australia in the final.
The idea of the new shortened format of the game at a professional level was discussed by the ECB as early as 1998 and was brought up again when the Benson & Hedges Cup ended in 2002. The game needed to appeal to the younger generation and halt the decline in attendances and sponsorship. This new fast paced, exciting form of cricket was officially launched with the Twenty20 Cup. The first season in England was a relative success, with the Surrey Lions defeating the Warwickshire Bears by 9 wickets in the final. The first Twenty20 match held at Lords took place on 15th July 2004 with Middlesex playing Surrey in front of a crowd of 26,500, the largest attendance for any county cricket game other than a one-day final since 1953.
Pakistan Cricket Board initiated The Twenty-20 Cup in 2004 as a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in Pakistan with 13 teams from different part of the country taking part. On 10 January 2005 Australia’s first Twenty20 game was played at the WACA Ground between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers in front of a capacity crowd of 20,700.
The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on 13th June 2005 with England won by a record margin of 100 runs. On 9th January 2006 Australia played South Africa in the first international Twenty20 game held in Australia. The game continued to spread across the world and in 2008 the Twenty20 match between Australia and India attracted a staggering 84,041 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Various rule changes have taken place, most particularly in deciding a match in the event of a draw. Originally ties were settled by a “bowl out” but that has now been replaced with a “Super Over” decider for each side. There are also time limits for each side to complete their 20 overs and, should they fail to do so, the batting side are credited with extra runs.
The first ever women’s Twenty20 tournament was also held alongside the men’s event in 2009, with double headers of matches played at the semi-finals and final stage. England won the tournament after beating New Zealand in the final. In 2010, Australia’s women won a thrilling final against New Zealand by three runs.
Twenty20 Betting
Twenty20 is one of the most popular forms of cricket betting. You can bet on the head to head and on the series or tournament outright. You can also bet on a wide range of specials including highest scoring batsman, bowler to take the most wickets and overall winning margin.
For the more adventurous, there are often markets on most sixes, number of run outs and next man out, as well as a host of betting and bowling specials. The fast moving, exciting play also lends itself perfectly to live or in-running betting.
Twenty20 Odds
There are a multitude of advertised odds for Twenty20 cricket from the outright winner to the man of the match award. The game is hugely popular world-wide because of the rapidly changing nature of the game.
There will be odds available on the highest scoring batsman for each side, the most successful bowler in terms of wickets taken and even match betting between players from each side. For events such as the World Twenty20, there will also be a lively market on the outright tournament winner.
