England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)’s much ambitious league ‘The Hundred’ is finally kickstarting from July 21 with its inaugural edition. The board has announced a new set of rules for the first ever 100-ball competition. The 25-ball powerplay, usage of ‘five’ instead of overs, white cards are just a few of the playing conditions introduced in the English domestic league.
The ECB have moved away from the traditional use of ‘Overs’ as the measuring unit, now switching to balls. The number of balls bowled and remaining in an innings will be displayed on the broadcasts and scoreboards as opposed to the usual ‘overs’.
The Hundred, as the name suggests, will have each innings lasting 100 balls. Ten balls will be bowled from an end before switching the ends. A bowler can bowl five or ten balls consecutively from the same or different ends. A bowler can bowl up to a maximum of 20 balls in an innings.
Among other things, the powerplay will consist of the first 25 balls of the innings, with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. The fielding side can opt for a two-minute strategic time-out at any point of the innings after the powerplay. However, the strategic time-out is not mandatory and the batting team will not have the option to request one.
The teams will be penalised for slow over-rates to ensure that the matches finish within its allocated airtime. The fielding team will be allowed one less fielder outside the 30-yard circle from the point of transgression.
The Decision Review System will be introduced in England’s domestic cricket, with the third umpire having control over the replays to speed things further up. In case of the rain-affected matches, a tweaked version of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
In case of a tied match, the team will be awarded one point each in the group stage. However, if it’s the eliminator or the final, a ‘Super Five’ will be played.
If the first ‘Super Five’ is tied then another five-ball contest will be played. And if the second ‘Super Five’ is also tied, the team finishing higher in the group stage will be announced winners.
Two new white Kookaburra balls will be used, one in each innings. There will be a two-run penalty for a no-ball as is the case in Vitality T20 Blast.
The Hundred will kickstart with the Women’s match getting the honours on July 21, where Oval Invincibles will take on Manchester Originals at the Oval. The men’s competition will begin with a battle between the same two franchises on July 22.
