What Is an Innings in Cricket? Meaning and Rules

An innings is one team’s turn to bat and score runs while the other team bowls and fields. The same word can also describe one batter’s time at the crease. Each team receives one innings in an ODI or T20 and up to two innings in a Test match.

What is an innings in cricket?

At team level, an innings begins when the first ball is called for play and continues until the batting turn is completed. The team adds runs to one total, loses wickets and sends in new batters as dismissals occur.

At player level, a batter’s innings begins when that player comes to the crease and ends on dismissal, retirement or the end of the team’s innings. “She played an innings of 75” means the player scored 75 runs, not that the whole team did.

The context normally makes the meaning clear:

• India scored 280 in its innings: the team total.
• The opener played a patient innings: one player’s performance.
• The third innings changed the Test: the third team batting turn in match order.

Is it inning or innings?

Cricket uses innings for both singular and plural. One team has one innings; in a Test it may have two innings. “Inning” without the final s belongs to baseball usage and is not the standard cricket term.

The grammar sounds unusual because the word already ends in s. The verb shows the number: “the innings is over” for one and “both innings are complete” for two.

How many innings are in each cricket format?

Format	Innings per team	Total possible	Over limit per innings
Test match	2	4	None
First-class match	Usually 2	4	Usually none
ODI	1	2	50 overs
List A	1	2	Usually 50 overs
T20	1	2	20 overs
The Hundred	1	2	100 balls

“Possible” matters in Tests. A team may win a chase before all four innings are completed, or win by an innings without batting a second time. Time can expire and produce a draw with an innings still open.

Our Test match guide explains the five-day structure, while the ODI overs guide covers the 50-over limit and rain reductions.

What happens during a team’s innings?

Two batters occupy the wickets. One faces the delivery as the striker and the other waits at the opposite end as the non-striker. They exchange ends by completing runs, and normally swap roles at the end of an over.

The fielding side uses its bowlers and fielders to restrict scoring and take wickets. When a batter is dismissed, the next member of the nominated eleven comes in. The batting side’s total combines batter runs, extras and penalties until the innings closes.

Every member of the eleven is eligible to bat, but an all-out innings normally records only ten dismissals. The eleventh player remains not out because a batter cannot continue alone. The cricket team-size guide explains substitutes and why they cannot simply replace an injured batter.

Five ways a team innings can end

MCC Law 13 lists the conditions for a completed innings.

1. The side is all out. Ten wickets have fallen and only one batter remains.
2. No further batter is available. A wicket falls or a batter retires, and injuries or absences leave nobody able to join the survivor.
3. The captain declares. In a format that permits declarations, the captain voluntarily closes the innings to create more time to dismiss the opposition.
4. The captain forfeits. The side gives up an innings before it starts under Law 15.
5. The agreed limit expires. The allotted overs or time ends, as with 20 overs in T20 or 50 in an ODI.

A successful chase also concludes the match as soon as the target is passed. The chasing side does not continue merely to use every scheduled ball.

How innings work in Test cricket

A Test permits two innings per team. The ordinary order is:

1. Team A first innings
2. Team B first innings
3. Team A second innings
4. Team B second innings

The follow-on can change that order. If Team A bats first and leads by at least 200 after the first innings in a five-day match, its captain may require Team B to bat again immediately. Team B then plays consecutive innings before Team A decides whether a chase is needed. The full thresholds and tactics are in the follow-on guide.

Declarations help create a result when batting indefinitely would use too much of the five-day limit. A captain balances extra runs against the time needed to take the remaining wickets.

Team innings versus batter innings

Phrase	Meaning
Team innings	The complete period in which one side bats
Batter’s innings	One player’s uninterrupted batting performance
First innings	Each side’s first batting turn, or the first turn in match sequence depending on context
Second innings	A side’s second turn in a two-innings match

A batter can finish not out while the team innings is complete. This happens when the overs expire, the captain declares, the target is reached or the other ten players are dismissed.

Individual innings feed batting averages. Runs are divided by the number of times the player was out, not simply the number of innings played. That is why a not-out score affects the calculation differently from a dismissal.

What does “won by an innings” mean?

An innings victory occurs when one side’s single total exceeds everything the opponent scored across both batting turns. The winner does not need a second innings.

Suppose Team A scores 400. Team B makes 180, follows on and scores 190. Its combined score is 370, still 30 short of Team A. The result is Team A won by an innings and 30 runs.

This result exists only in two-innings cricket. An ODI or T20 winner is described by runs, wickets, a tie-break or another competition result because each side bats once.

Simple innings examples

Match situation	What ends the innings?	Score notation
ODI side reaches 275/8 after 50 overs	Over limit	275/8
T20 chasing side passes 161 in 18.4 overs	Target reached and match won	162/5
Test captain stops at 450/6	Declaration	450/6 declared
Ten batters are dismissed for 210	All out	210
Batter is injured and cannot return	Player innings ends retired hurt	Individual score marked retired hurt

An individual retirement does not always complete the team’s turn. Another batter may replace the retired player. Our retired-out explainer distinguishes tactical retirement from leaving through injury.

The simplest way to follow any scorecard is to ask two questions: which team’s innings is this, and how can it end? Once those are clear, overs, wickets, declarations and targets fit into the same structure.