What are the rules of The Hundred? How the tournament is different from T20 cricket explained

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) introduced a new 100-ball format in 2021.

It was different from the popular T20 cricket of 120 balls per inning, played across the world, including the IPL and Big Bash League.

Cricket News lists out the key differences in rules between the two formats.

Why did the ECB create The Hundred?

Cricket's short-form landscape has never been busier, and two formats now sit at the heart of the white-ball conversation.

Twenty20 has served as the global benchmark for two decades, powering leagues from IPL in India to the Big Bash League in Australia to the ICC T20 World Cup, while The Hundred arrived in 2021 as English cricket's bold and unique attempt to create excitement with a new format.

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For all their similarities, the two are governed by meaningfully different rulebooks.

The Hundred was designed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to be faster, simpler and easier for newcomers to follow, and that intention shows up in everything from how overs are counted to how long a bowler can operate for.

Understanding where the formats diverge helps explain why they feel so distinct to watch for anyone following both competitions during the English summer.

MORE:Most runs in T20 cricket: Complete list of top run-scores in T20 cricket history ft. Jos Buttler

What are the key differences in The Hundred vs T20 cricket format rules?

Number of balls

The main difference lies in the numbers. A T20 innings runs to 120 balls, delivered across 20 traditional six-ball overs, whereas The Hundred caps each innings at 100 legal deliveries and does away with the conventional over entirely.

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In The Hundred, bowling overs are organised into sets of five balls rather than six.

A bowler may deliver either five consecutive balls or a double set of 10, with the captain deciding whether to extend the spell. The bowling end changes after every 10 deliveries, not after each over as in T20 cricket.

Match duration

Time was central to The Hundred's design, and the format reliably delivers a tighter package.

According to ECB playing conditions, a Hundred match typically finishes in around 150 minutes, giving broadcasters a neat two-and-a-half-hour window.

A T20 fixture, by comparison, generally stretches closer to three hours, and often between 180 and 200 minutes once interruptions and strategic breaks are factored in.

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The reduced ball count and streamlined structure of The Hundred shave meaningful time off the overall spectacle without losing the entertainment.

Bowling rules and restrictions for bowlers

Both formats field eleven players per side, but the bowling allocations differ sharply. In T20 cricket, a bowler may send down a maximum of four overs, amounting to 24 balls across the innings.

The Hundred restricts each bowler to 20 balls in total, the equivalent of four five-ball sets.

That lower ceiling limits how heavily captains can lean on their frontline options, forcing them to think harder about when to deploy their best bowlers against dangerous batters during a compressed innings.

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Powerplay restriction difference

The powerplay concept in T20 cricket is replicated in The Hundred as well, though the length changes. A T20 powerplay spans the opening six overs, or 36 balls, during which only two fielders are permitted outside the 30-yard circle as batters look to cash in early.

The Hundred trims this to a 25-ball powerplay at the start of each innings, again allowing just two fielders beyond the ring. Once those 25 balls are completed, standard fielding restrictions apply for the remainder.

Every tweak, from the 20-ball bowler cap to the 25-ball powerplay, serves the same goal of speed and accessibility, and the numbers filling English grounds each summer suggest the experiment has found its audience, whatever the traditionalists may feel.

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