https://cricket-cup.com/ is a team sport that has a huge number of fans. This is primarily due to the high popularity of cricket in India, which is home to more than a billion people, and thanks to Indian fans, according to some reports, cricket is the 2nd most popular sport in the world after soccer. Matches are played all year round and the betting opportunities are almost unlimited.
Popularity and Rich History
The first information about cricket dates back to the 16th century, when the English were already practicing a similar sport using a ball and a flat bat. The expansion of the British Empire into remote regions of the world led to the spread of this discipline in new countries. True, then its development slowed down, and now cricket is little popular outside the former British colonies.
Cricket betting is a multi-billion dollar business in Asia, Australia and surrounding countries in Britain. The biggest markets are high-profile Test matches between national teams, and T20 format games in the Indian Premier League. Approximately 70 percent of cricket betting is done live.
In Search of the Perfect Regulation
These days there are mainly 3 cricket formats: Tier 1 cricket, one-day matches and T20 (“Twenty20”). In Tier 1, matches can last 3, 4 or 5 days, and Test matches between national teams and national championships are played in this format. It is the slowest form of cricket, where matches are often fought in a heavy tactical battle.
The fastest and most entertaining is T20, where matches do not drag on for long. “Twenty20 is gradually gaining more and more popularity in the world, with only 2 innings to complete the match (1 for each team’s attack) and an average match duration of 3.5 hours.
One Day Internationals (or simply ODIs) are the middle ground. In these encounters, teams try to find a winner within one day and the game is limited to 40 or 50 overs in total.
A Little Bit About the Rules
Similar to baseball, in cricket players try to hit the ball after the defending team’s pitch, but apart from that there is not much overlap between the 2 sports.
Matches are played between 2 teams – 11 players on each side. The field has a round shape and can vary in size, but in the center there is always a circle with a diameter of 20 meters (“pitch”), where all the main actions take place.
Teams take turns batting or pitching the ball, the defense side has 1 bowler and 10 fielders on the field at the same time, while the offense has only 2 batsmen on the field, 1 each on opposite sides of the pitch.
The attacking player tries to score as many runs – runs – as possible in his allotted overs (there are 6 bowler’s pitches in one over), or until he is bowled out by the defense. The batsman tries to deflect the throw so that the ball reaches the boundaries of the pitch or flies far enough away from the opponents to allow the batsman to run to the other end of the pitch.
If successful, and if certain other conditions are met, the batsman’s team earns wounds. However, fulfillment of certain playing conditions – catching the ball by the opponent before it touches the ground, destroying the batsman’s wicket and others – takes the batsman out of the game.
The attack of the team, the so-called innings, continues until 10 batsmen of the batting team are taken out of the game, after which the opponents change roles.
Types of Cricket Betting
On the outcome. Tier 1 cricket has draws, so the odds on the outcome in Test matches are with 3 ways. A draw does not happen as often as in soccer, but still its probability is relatively high and comparable to that of hockey. In the one-day format and the “twenty”, bookmakers offer 2-track outcomes without the possibility of a draw.
Double chance. Same as the outcome betting, only in double chance you can summarize 2 outcomes for a lower odds – for example, that there will be no draw or that 1 of the teams will at least not lose.
On a handicap. Here you can make a prediction on what advantage the team will win or more than what forfeit to the opponent. For example, in test matches between strong teams is very popular forfeit (0).
Totals. Betting on the number of runs per match or for a particular segment – after 5, 10, 15 overs and so on. These can be both total totals and individual totals for each team.
Player statistics. In the lines for top-level cricket, as a rule, there are enough offers on personal achievements of players. There are a variety of indicators: the number of runs or 6-point hits, various titles at the end of the match – the best batsman or the best player of the meeting.
Match statistics. Cricket is rich in different statistics and secondary events. It will not be difficult to find quotes on the number of run outs or the best result of the first partnership in the lines for big matches. Also, many offices offer to bet on how the first wicket will be destroyed.
On the first innings. Quite a popular betting market in protracted Test matches, because to find out the result of the first innings, you don’t have to wait a few days. In the line for the 1st innings you can usually find all the above types of bets.
On the toss. The most primitive prediction that can be made at bookmakers on all major matches. The odds of guessing the 1st team striker are 50/50, and you will still lose money on the bookmaker’s margin when playing long.