T20 vs ODI vs Test Cricket: The Three Formats Explained

International cricket is played in three formats that share the same basic laws but feel like different sports. Test cricket gives each side two innings with no limit on overs and lasts up to five days. A One Day International (ODI) gives each side a single innings of 50 overs and fills a day. A Twenty20 (T20) gives each side one innings of 20 overs and is over in an evening. An over is six legal deliveries, so the difference in scale is enormous: a T20 has at most 240 deliveries in the match, an ODI 600, and a Test day alone is scheduled for at least 540.

The formats also differ in what counts as winning. In limited-overs cricket the side with more runs at the end wins, and there is almost always a result. In a Test, the side batting last has to be bowled out or the target has to be reached; if time runs out first, the match is drawn, however far ahead one side is. That one rule shapes everything about how Tests are played. If you want to know how long each format takes on the clock, our guide to how long cricket matches last covers sessions, breaks and rain in detail; this guide is about how the formats work.

Each team bats twice, alternating innings, and there is no limit on how long an innings lasts. A captain can end their side's innings early by declaring, trading runs for time to bowl the opposition out. If the side batting second in a five-day Test finishes its first innings 200 or more runs behind, the other captain can enforce the follow-on and make them bat again immediately. To win, a team must bowl the other side out twice and score more runs in total, or reach its target in the fourth innings.

A Test can end in a win, a draw when time runs out, or, very rarely, a tie, which has happened only twice in Test history, in 1960 and 1986. Tests are played in white clothing with a red ball, and the fielding side may take a new ball after 80 overs. Day-night Tests, introduced in 2015, use a pink ball that is easier to see under floodlights.

Only the 12 full members of the International Cricket Council play Test cricket. Since 2019 most Test series have counted towards the ICC World Test Championship, a two-year league whose top two teams meet in a one-off final.

In an ODI each team has one innings of up to 50 overs, and no bowler may bowl more than 10 of them. The batting side tries to post or chase a total before its overs or its ten wickets run out. Fielding restrictions shape the innings into phases: in the first 10 overs only two fielders may stand outside the 30-yard circle, in overs 11 to 40 up to four, and in the last 10 overs up to five. Those rules are why scoring tends to surge at the start and the end of an innings.

ODIs are played in coloured clothing with a white ball and a black sightscreen. When rain cuts the playing time, the overs are reduced and the target is recalculated with the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. The men's ODI World Cup is held every four years; the next is scheduled for 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

T20 follows the same pattern as an ODI, condensed. Each side bats for up to 20 overs, a bowler may bowl no more than four, and the powerplay, with only two fielders allowed outside the circle, covers the first six overs. Because there is so little time, batters attack from the first ball, which is what makes the format so popular with crowds and broadcasters.

A tied T20 is usually decided by a Super Over, one over per side, and in ICC tournaments repeated Super Overs are played until there is a winner. T20 is also the format of the big franchise leagues, such as the Indian Premier League, Australia's Big Bash League, the Caribbean Premier League and SA20, and of the ICC Men's and Women's T20 World Cups. England's The Hundred is a close cousin, with 100 balls per side instead of 120.

Test cricket is played in daylight, so start times follow the local sun and vary a little by venue and season. As a general rule, Tests in England usually start at 11:00 local time, Tests in Australia at around 10:00 to 10:30 local time, and Tests in India at around 9:30 local time, sometimes earlier at venues where the light fades early in winter. Day-night Tests start in the afternoon and finish under floodlights.

Converted, those starts land at very different times around the world. An 11:00 start in an English summer is 10:00 UTC, which is 15:30 in India and 20:00 on Australia's east coast. A 9:30 start in India is 04:00 UTC: 05:00 in the UK during British Summer Time, or 04:00 in winter. A 10:30 start in Melbourne or Sydney during the Australian summer, when those cities are on UTC+11, is 23:30 UTC on the previous day, so UK fans watching an Ashes Test in Australia stay up until midnight or set an early alarm.

Remember that Australia does not change its clocks uniformly: Brisbane and Perth stay on standard time all year, while Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Adelaide move forward in October. India has no daylight saving at all. The safest way to get a Test's first ball right is a countdown that converts each day's start to your own time zone.

ODI and T20 start times are set much more by television. Day-night ODIs in Asia often start in the early afternoon local time and finish under lights, while T20 internationals and franchise matches are usually evening fixtures in the host country. The Indian Premier League's evening matches, for example, have started at 19:30 India time in recent seasons, with an afternoon match on double-header days. Always check the specific fixture, because broadcasters and organisers move these times far more freely than Test start times.

If you are new to cricket, a T20 is the easiest place to start: it is short, the stakes of every ball are obvious, and there is nearly always a winner within three or four hours. An ODI rewards a free day and has a natural half-time in the innings break. Test cricket is a slow-burning contest of skill, patience and conditions; it is best followed in sessions rather than watched end to end, and the closing session of a tight fourth or fifth day is one of the most tense experiences in sport.