How Many Overs in ODI Cricket? 50 Per Side, Explained

An ODI is 50 overs per side, which is 300 legal deliveries, and a full match is 100 overs across a single day. No bowler may send down more than 10 of those 50. The ICC playing conditions set both numbers, and they have been the standard since the 1987 World Cup, when the format was cut from 60 overs a side.

How many overs are in an ODI match?

Fifty per innings. The ICC’s ODI playing conditions state that each innings is limited to a maximum of 50 overs and that all matches are of one day’s scheduled duration, with no reserve day for standard bilateral fixtures.

Two details follow from that. If the side batting first is dismissed inside 50 overs, the side batting second still gets its full 50. And if the fielding side fails to complete its 50 overs by the scheduled cut-off, play continues until the overs are bowled rather than the innings being closed early.

Format	Overs per side	Balls	Max per bowler
ODI	50	300	10
T20I	20	120	4
Test	No limit	No limit	No limit
List A domestic	Usually 50	300	10

The absence of an over limit is the defining difference with the longer format, which our guide to what a Test match is works through in full.

How many overs can one bowler bowl?

Ten, and the arithmetic behind it is one-fifth of the innings. The playing conditions say no bowler shall bowl more than 10 overs in an innings, and in a delayed or interrupted match no bowler may exceed one-fifth of the total overs allowed.

When the reduced total does not divide by five, one extra over is allowed to as many bowlers as needed to make up the balance. A 32-over innings, for example, gives a base of six overs each with two bowlers permitted seven. If a bowler breaks down mid-over, another bowler completes it, and that part-over counts as a full one against only the original bowler’s limit.

This is why an ODI side needs at least five bowling options rather than four. The knock-on effect on selection is covered in how many players are in a cricket team.

Why ODIs were 60 overs until 1987

The first World Cups were 60-over tournaments because they were played in England, where midsummer daylight stretches past 9pm. Fitting 120 overs into a single day was straightforward there.

The very first ODI, at the MCG on 5 January 1971, was not 50 or 60 overs at all: it was 40 eight-ball overs a side, a total of 320 deliveries. Formats stayed local for years, with 40 and 35 eight-ball overs used in Australia and New Zealand and 40 six-ball overs in Asia. The 1975, 1979 and 1983 World Cups settled on 60 overs.

When the 1987 tournament moved out of England for the first time, co-hosted by India and Pakistan, the shorter subcontinental day made 120 overs impossible to schedule. The cut to 50 overs a side was a practical fix, and it became the global standard.

Period	Overs per side	Context
1971	40 (eight-ball)	First ODI, Melbourne
1975-1983	60	The three World Cups staged in England
1987 onwards	50	Reduced for the India and Pakistan World Cup, kept ever since

What happens when rain shortens an ODI

Overs are removed and the target is recalculated by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. Both sides must have had the opportunity to bat for at least 20 overs for a result to stand.

DLS treats a batting innings as two depleting resources: balls remaining and wickets in hand. It works out what proportion of those resources each side actually had access to and adjusts the target so the chase asks the same of the second team as the first team faced. That is why losing wickets, not just overs, moves the number, and why a rain break can leave a chasing side needing more runs from fewer balls than the raw run rate suggests.

The exceptions to the 20-over rule are the obvious ones. A side bowled out inside 20 overs still produces a valid result, as does a chase completed before 20 overs are up. If the innings is cut to fewer overs, the powerplay blocks and the per-bowler cap scale down with it. In a tied match, the Super Over tie-breaker settles it.

How the 50 overs split into powerplays

The 50 overs are divided into three fielding-restriction blocks, and only the middle one gives the bowling side much room.

Powerplay	Overs	Fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle
Powerplay 1	1-10	2
Powerplay 2	11-40	4
Powerplay 3	41-50	5

The circle itself is two semi-circles of 30 yards (27.43 m) centred on the middle stump at each end, linked by two straight lines. The restriction applies at the instant of delivery, not throughout the over. When an innings is shortened, the playing conditions carry a table that reallocates the blocks: a 20-over innings, for instance, becomes 4, 12 and 4.

Over rates, penalties and the ball change at over 34

The minimum over rate in an ODI is 14.28 overs per hour, which works out at 50 overs in three and a half hours. Falling behind now costs a side within the match, not just afterwards.

The fielding side must be in position to bowl the first ball of the penultimate over by the scheduled cut-off time for the innings. If it is not, the Powerplay 3 allowance is cut and no more than four fielders may stand outside the circle for the remainder of the innings. The penalty does not apply if the innings has been reduced below 25 overs, unless it had already been imposed, or if the innings finishes before the cut-off. Allowances are given for injury treatment, third-umpire referrals and time-wasting by the batting side.

One further change took effect in July 2025. Two new balls are still used from opposite ends, but only for overs 1 to 34. At the end of over 34, the fielding side chooses one of the two to use for the remaining 16 overs, which gives the older ball a chance to reverse swing in the death overs. In a match reduced to 25 overs or fewer before the first innings starts, each side gets one new ball only.

For the shorthand you will see attached to all of this on a scoreboard, from PP to NRR to DLS, our reference on cricket abbreviations and full forms covers each one, and the body setting these conditions is explained in what ICC stands for in cricket.