How To Bet On Cricket: A Cricket Betting Guide

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world, second only to soccer, with over 2.5 billion participants worldwide. With ample opportunity to wager, both experienced and casual sports fans and bettors should know how to bet on a cricket match. In this guide, we outline the various forms of cricket betting, the individual bets one can place, how to read betting odds, and strategies for how to bet on cricket and win.

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Reading Cricket Match Odds

Reading standard cricket match odds is no different from any other major sport. A moneyline bet – or simply picking the Sportsbook of the game – is the most popular approach for how to bet on cricket. The odds for a moneyline bet in a cricket match would look like this:

The odds listed above are given in American odds, where the favorite is listed with the minus (-) and the underdog with the plus (+). In the above example, if someone were to bet $100 on the +170 underdog, South Africa, and they were to win, the bettor would profit $170 (getting back their $100 bet, and $170 more). If someone were to bet $100 on the -200 favorite, Australia, and win, they would profit $50 (getting back their $100 bet, and $50 more).

Other formats that odds are listed in are Decimal odds (1.9), where your potential return is multiplied by the listed odds, or Fractional odds (3/2), which represent in a ratio the amount you would win compared to the amount you would have to bet.

To calculate how much you would win or to convert between odds formats, check out our odds calculator.

How to Bet on Cricket and Win

Like all sports, being successful wagering on cricket comes back to the basics: knowing how to bet on a cricket match. Knowledge of the sport, the players and the competition formats are key, but if you don’t know the available online sports betting formats, it will become much harder for you to successfully bet on cricket and win.

Below we outline the most popular online gambling formats and the many ways of how to bet on a cricket match.

Match Sportsbook

As outlined above, a moneyline bet on the match Sportsbook is the most popular bet in cricket, like any other major sport. Some sportsbooks offer the option to bet on a draw depending on the competition format. There are also often “double chance” cricket bets, a popular soccer betting format, where one can wager on a team to win or draw.

For beginning bettors or casual fans, betting the match Sportsbook is an easy way to add some stakes to a game and to bet on cricket and win.

Innings Runs

Betting on the runs in an inning is another popular method many people choose to bet on a cricket match. Fans can choose to bet the exact number of runs in an inning, or OVER or UNDER a predicted runs total set by an online sportsbook. In some cricket formats, including T20, there are only two innings, with each cricket team batting once. In other formats, there are four or more innings, with the teams alternating batting.

First Ball/First Over Cricket Betting

If bettors want to bet on a more immediate outcome, they can wager on the outcome of the first ball or first over of a cricket match. Some online betting sites list cricket odds for specific outcomes of the first ball (a six, four, wicket, etc.) but many simply list an OVER or UNDER run total for the first ball and the first over.

Player and Team Total Cricket Betting

Much like betting on innings runs or first ball/first over outcomes, fans can wager on the total runs scored by an individual player or the total scored by a side in the match. Books set the side and player totals, which fans can wager OVER or UNDER on.

For some players, books may also list if a player will reach a century (100 runs) or half-century (50 runs) as a separate total bet. Some books also list the opportunity to bet on the total runs scored by an Sportsbook pairing.

Live Cricket Betting

Many sportsbooks also allow live betting, where fans can wager on many of the above formats during a match. On top of ever-changing odds for standard formats, live in-play cricket betting can feature unique formats like the outcome of the next ball or the next over and opportunities for people seeking out how to bet on cricket in new ways.

How to Win With Cricket Prop Betting

Cricket prop bets allow fans to wager on in-game events that don’t affect the game’s final outcome and diversify how you bet on cricket. Depending on the game or format, some betting markets can have dozens of prop bets for any given game, but outlined below are some of the most popular cricket props for fans researching how to bet on cricket and win.

Coin Toss

You can wager on which side will win the Sportsbook coin toss of a cricket match and some books allow fans to bet on which side of the coin will win — heads or tails.

Top Batsman/Top Bowler

Fans searching for how to bet on cricket stars instead of simply match events or outcomes can turn to top batsman or top bowler props. A top batsman bet can be on which individual player will score the most runs, or sometimes just what team the leading run scorer is from. A top bowler bet will be on which bowler will take the most wickets in a match.

Most Sixes

Similar to a top batsman prop bet, fans can bet on which player or team will have the most sixes throughout a match.

Cricket Events to Bet On

Much like other popular international sports, cricket has many different competition formats and events that happen throughout a year. Individuals seeking out how to bet on a cricket match should first identify what format and competition they want to wager on.

Indian Premier League Cricket – T20

The IPL consists of eight teams from Indian cities and states and has a 14-game schedule played between March and May each year. The IPL is played in a T20 cricket format, with only two total innings (one per side) of a maximum of 20 overs each. Because of the condensed format, many of the player props and team totals are much lower than other formats.

The IPL and its Australian counterpart Big Bash League may be the perfect leagues for fans just learning how to bet on cricket because of the shorter game length and the offensive-oriented style of play.

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One Day Internationals

The One Day International cricket format, commonly referred to as ODI, is for matches between the best cricketing countries in the world. Like T20, an ODI is played in just two innings, with each side getting to bat only once, but in the ODI format the maximum overs is more than 20, often 50, and games can last over eight hours. For fans looking for how to bet on cricket matches between international opponents, this is the format used in the ICC World Cup.

Test Match Cricket

While T20 and ODI cricket are on the rise, experienced cricket fans and bettors will be familiar with test cricket, considered the purest form of the sport. Dating back to the late 19th century, test cricket is a days-long version of the sport comprised of four innings and hundreds of overs. Both sides bat twice per match and alternate fielding and bowling up to 90 overs per day, or until the batting team is bowled out.

Knowing how to bet on cricket, you are now prepared to wager on any cricket match or format. Thankfully it is one of the most played sports in the world, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding an event to bet on to make some money. For further cricket betting tips and betting strategies, check out our cricket betting strategy guide.