Cricket Bets

Cricket might not be as popular as football or tennis (although it is starting to catch up real fast when it comes to gaining an audience worldwide). However, when it comes to online betting, it is right up there as one of the most popular sports to bet on.

This is because the format of cricket, whether that is Twenty20, One Day or Test Cricket is near perfect for betting enthusiasts because it offers the chance to bet on a myriad of markets ranging from pure luck markets to ultimate cricket knowledge ones.

Basically, a punter can bet on anything ranging from winner of the toss to winner of the match, from top batsman to top bowler, from 1st over total runs to 1st wicket method as well as on lots of other even more specialized betting markets.

Here we will try to list and explain all the cricket bets that are available and possible to bet on. So if you are a betting novice who loves cricket or a betting enthusiast who is new to cricket and would like to add one more sport to his ‘betting portfolio’, this is the article for you.

This is the full list of cricket bets we will talk about on this page. Click on a bet that you would like to know more about to move to that or continue to scroll to just read about them from top to bottom.

To Win the Match

We start off this list of bets with the most obvious one, which team will win the match. This is the most straightforward bet in most sports, but since cricket is a little more complicated we advise you to check your betting provider’s section on how matches are settled before you place your bet.

This is because betting becomes complicated when there is the possibility of a draw in test matches or the possibility of a tie in one day games. The draw is usually part of the possible results to bet on for test matches while the tie might mean that your money will be refunded.

However, as with most other sports, the general rule here is that if you put your money on the team which comes out of the match as a winner, as determined by official competition rules, you are a winner as well.

Top Team Batsman

When you are betting on Top Team Batsman you are basically betting on the batsman who will score the most runs during the match for one of the teams. Both teams’ batsmen are taken into consideration and usually proven performers such as Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, David Warner, Joe Root and Steve Smith are the safest bets.

However, as you might expect these players come with the lowest odds as well, meaning that if you win, you will be entitled to lower payoffs than if you had bet on players with outsider’s chance such as Mitchell Marsh, Matt Wade or Hardik Himanshu Pandya.

If two or more players end the match with exactly the same number of runs then usually dead heat rules apply. This means that if there are two top batsmen with identical number of runs your initially expected winnings are divided by two, which is basically a bet for half of your original stake.

Top Match Batsman

The only difference between this market and the previous one is that you bet on the batsman who will score the highest total of runs in the match and not just in his own team.

Top Team Bowler

When a person is betting on the top team bowler he or she is actually betting on the number of wickets being taken by a specific bowler. If there are two or more bowlers with the same number of wickets taken then the winner is the one with the least number of runs conceded. If this doesn’t settle the winner, then dead heat rules apply.

Good choices for this type of bet are bowlers with a proven history of taking wickets. Probably the greatest bowling specialist in Tests and ODIs, Ravichandran Ashwin, would be considered as the perfect choice.

1st Over Total Runs

This bet is about the total number of runs scored in the 1st over. The punter has two options. To predict that the total number of runs in the first over will be Under or Over the specified number by the betting provider.

A Fifty or a Hundred to Be Scored in the Match

This bet is pretty self-explanatory. These are actually two different bets which mean that if a fifty or a hundred is scored by a batsman in the match you are a winner.

Obviously, there are much higher chances of fifty or a hundred runs to be scored in test matches and one day matches than in Twenty20 matches where scoring a century is very difficult to achieve.

A Fifty or a Hundred to Be Scored in the 1st Innings

This is a variation of the previous market which is usually offered by betting providers only for test matches which last much longer than one day matches and Twenty20 matches. It only takes into consideration the 1st Innings.

1st Wicket Method

Punters who bet on this market have 6 options to choose from. These options are Caught, Bowled, LBW, Run Out, Stumped and Others. The most common of these is Caught and that is why it always comes with the lowest odds.

Highest Opening Partnership

This market is all about choosing the team which will put on the highest total of runs for their opening partnership. The team which is the favourite to win the match usually has lower odds for its opening partnership, whereas the highest odds are reserved for the highly unlikely scenario in which both opening partnerships score identical number of runs.

To Win the Toss

This market is pure luck and nothing else. Toss predictions is unfortunately impossible. This is merely for punters who live for the thrill of quick winnings which are solely determined by Lady Luck.

As in most other sports, cricket starts with a coin toss. And as the name of the market implies, you can bet on this. Punters don’t need to guess what the team that has won the toss will do next. They only bet on which team wins it.

Team to Make Highest 1st 6 Overs

As the name implies the team with the highest total of runs over the course of the first 6 overs wins the bet. The winner in this market may or may not end up as the winner of the match.

Most Match Sixes

Punters can choose which of the two teams will hit the most sixes. In general, punters should look for teams containing players with lots of 6s behind their names such as Martin Guptill, the young Quinton de Kock or David Warner.

As a variation to this market you can also choose which batsman will score the highest number of sixes.

Batsman Matches

This is a market in which imaginary duels are formed by the betting provider and the batsman with the highest total number of runs is the winner of the duel. The batsmen which are usually chosen are often evenly matched which makes choosing the winner quite difficult.

Man of the Match

We round off this list of bets with the Man of the Match market. As in most other team sports, at the end of each cricket match the best performer is chosen and is awarded the Man of the Match award.

This is usually a player from the winning team, and that is why the odds for star players from the team which is considered as a favourite before the match are lower. However, often players from the losing side put in top notch performances and are given the award. These players come with higher odds and present a nice opportunity for betting enthusiasts to win some money.