One Day Internationals
A slow game, accelerated.
ODI match summary
If understanding test cricket was overwhelming, One Day Internationals are a relief. As the name suggests, an ODI game lasts only a day, and unlike tests, which happen over four innings, ODIs only take two innings to determine a winner. An ODI takes 6-7 hours to finish, with each team batting once across two innings. Each inning lasts for about 3-3.5 hours. Unlike tests, where there are no limits on the number of overs each team can bowl in an inning, ODIs have a 50-overs cap, which significantly shortens the game while simplifying the game by eliminating nuances like declaring and follow-on.
A toss takes place to decide which team bats or bowls first. Teams usually prefer to bat first, but not always, because it is commonly said in limited-over cricket that it is easier to put runs on the board than to chase down the score. There is a certain kind of inevitable pressure to chase a score. But some teams also prefer batting second to assess the pitch and the conditions on the given day. The pitch and the conditions play slightly less of a role in ODIs in influencing the match winner than in tests, given that it is a shorter version, meaning less deterioration of the pitch and lesser chances of the conditions changing throughout the game.
The fundamentals remain pretty much the same as test matches but packed into a shorter format. The objective is still to score the most runs to win the game. The batter tries to score runs, whereas the bowler tries to get them out. However, the approach changes slightly to tests. The batters take a less cautious approach because there are only limited overs to play, so they try to be more attacking and score more boundaries often instead of being defensive all the time. Whereas the bowlers attack even more as each bowler can only bowl a maximum of ten overs in a game, putting all their strength and efforts into the ten overs.
Teams try to score as many runs as possible in the 50 overs. Any score beyond 280-300 is considered a good first-inning score in an ODI. The team batting second must score the runs put up by the team batting first in 50 overs or less to win, while the other team must stop them from doing that to win.
