Powerplay and Over Limits Interpreter
Powerplay and Over Limits Interpreter
How many fielders may stand outside the circle in this over, and who says so. “The powerplay is the first six overs” is true of a full Twenty20 international and wrong for a shortened one — and the ICC and the ECB shorten it differently, so the competition is an input here.
Fielding restrictions by over, under named playing conditions
Playing conditionsICC Men’s T20I conditions, a full 20-over innings, the fourth over
The same question, two different published answers
| Overs in the innings | ICC Men’s T20I, clause 28.7.6 | ECB 20-over, clause 5.3 | Same? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 to 6 | 2 | 1 | no |
| 7 to 8 | 2 | 2 | yes |
| 9 | 3 | 2 | no |
| 10 to 11 | 3 | 3 | yes |
| 12 to 13 | 4 | 3 | no |
| 14 | 4 | 4 | yes |
| 15 to 16 | 5 | 4 | no |
| 17 to 18 | 5 | 5 | yes |
| 19 | 6 | 5 | no |
| 20 | 6 | 6 | yes |
The ODI phases, full 50-over innings
| Overs | Fielders outside the circle | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 10 inclusive | no more than two | ICC Men’s ODI 28.7.2.2.1 |
| 11 to 40 inclusive | no more than four | ICC Men’s ODI 28.7.2.2.2 |
| 41 to 50 inclusive | no more than five | ICC Men’s ODI 28.7.2.2.3 |
How many overs a bowler may have
| Full innings | Reduced innings | Clause | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s ODI | 10 overs | one fifth of the total allowed; one extra over where the total does not divide by five | ICC Men’s ODI 13.9.1 to 13.9.3 |
| Men’s T20I | 4 overs | one fifth where 10 or more overs; 2 overs in a 5 to 9 over innings | ICC Men’s T20I 13.9.1 to 13.9.2 |
| ECB 20-over, recreational | one fifth of the scheduled overs | one fifth of the scheduled overs | ECB 20-over 6.1 |
A number with a body and a season attached to it
“The powerplay is the first six overs” is the sort of fact that sounds like a rule of cricket and is not. It is a playing condition, which means it belongs to a competition rather than to the game, and three things about it change: how long the powerplay is, how many fielders may stand outside the circle, and who decided. This page therefore asks whose conditions apply before it answers, which is the one input that most such calculators leave out.
For a full Twenty20 international the familiar answer is right. ICC Men’s T20I Playing Conditions clause 28.7.2 makes the powerplay the first six overs of each innings; clause 28.7.4 allows “only two fieldsmen … outside this fielding restriction area at the instant of delivery” during it, and clause 28.7.5 allows “no more than 5 fieldsmen” afterwards. The restriction area is two semicircles of 30-yard radius centred on the middle stumps, joined by parallel lines. Separately and throughout, clause 28.4.1 permits no more than five fielders on the leg side, and a breach of either limit is called and signalled No Ball by the square leg umpire (clause 28.7.8).
Shorten the innings and the answer stops being six — and the two bodies read for this page do not shorten it the same way. The ICC’s table at clause 28.7.6 gives two restriction overs for a 5 to 8 over innings, three for 9 to 11, four for 12 to 14, five for 15 to 18 and six for 19 to 20. The ECB’s table at clause 5.3 of its 20-over playing conditions gives one for 5 to 6 overs, two for 7 to 9, three for 10 to 13, four for 14 to 16 and five for 17 to 19. In a 15-over innings that is five overs under the ICC and four under the ECB, and in a 9-over innings three against two. Both numbers are correct; they are correct for different competitions. Neither table was taken from a summary: each was read as text from the publishing body’s own document on 12 October 2026, and each fetch was checked for the possibility that the table was an image.
A 50-over innings works differently again, in three phases rather than two. ICC Men’s ODI Playing Conditions clause 28.7.2.2.1 allows no more than two fielders outside the circle for overs 1 to 10 inclusive, clause 28.7.2.2.2 no more than four for overs 11 to 40, and clause 28.7.2.2.3 no more than five for overs 41 to 50. Where an ODI innings is reduced, the phase lengths come from a table at clause 28.7.2.3 whose rows were not read for this page — so this page says so and refuses, rather than fitting a curve through the ICC’s Twenty20 table and calling the result an ODI rule. A fitted stand-in for a published table misclassifies at the extremes, and the extremes are where a shortened match actually sits.
Bowler quotas follow the same pattern: an arithmetic rule for a full innings and a different rule for a short one. ICC Men’s ODI clause 13.9.1 allows no bowler more than 10 overs, and 13.9.2 reduces that to one fifth of the total where overs are lost, with 13.9.3 adding one extra over where the total does not divide by five. ICC Men’s T20I clause 13.9.1 allows four, with one fifth for a reduced innings of 10 overs or more and a floor of two overs for a 5 to 9 over innings. The ECB’s recreational 20-over conditions put it as one fifth of the scheduled overs at clause 6.1 and stop there. For a full innings all three agree, because a fifth of 20 is four and a fifth of 50 is ten; the divergence is in the short game, which is exactly where somebody will look it up.
The numbers on this page are playing conditions, not laws of the game, and playing conditions belong to a competition rather than to cricket. The ICC revises its Men’s ODI and Men’s T20I Playing Conditions between seasons, national boards and franchise leagues write their own, and the clause pages the ICC publishes at icc-cricket.com carry no edition year. Every figure here is printed with the body that publishes it and the clause it sits in, and was read from that body’s own document on 12 October 2026. Check it against the playing conditions for the match in front of you before you act on it.
One number on this page is not a playing condition and does not move: the over itself. Six legal balls, by MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, Law 17.1 and clause 17.1 of both sets of ICC conditions, which the overs to balls converter works through. For the rates that these restrictions exist to shape, the cricket run rate calculator and the bowling economy, average and strike rate calculator take the overs and balls as separate fields so the part-over notation cannot bite.
Frequently asked questions
How many overs is the powerplay in a T20?
Six in a full Twenty20 international — ICC Men’s T20I Playing Conditions clause 28.7.2 — and fewer in a shortened innings, on a table at clause 28.7.6 that gives five for 15 to 18 overs, four for 12 to 14, three for 9 to 11 and two for 5 to 8. The ECB’s recreational 20-over conditions use a different table, so the answer depends on the competition.
Do the ICC and the ECB really disagree about this?
Yes, on five of the ten innings lengths. In a 15-over innings the ICC’s table (clause 28.7.6) gives five restriction overs and the ECB’s (clause 5.3) gives four; in a 9-over innings three against two; in a 5 or 6 over innings two against one. Both are published and both are correct for their own competitions.
How many fielders can be outside the circle in an ODI?
Two for overs 1 to 10, four for overs 11 to 40 and five for overs 41 to 50 of a full 50-over innings — ICC Men’s ODI Playing Conditions clauses 28.7.2.2.1 to 28.7.2.2.3. The circle is two semicircles of 30-yard radius centred on the middle stumps, joined by parallel lines.
Why does this page not handle a reduced ODI innings?
Because the ICC sets those phase lengths in a table at clause 28.7.2.3 whose rows were not read for this page. Approximating it from the Twenty20 table would misclassify exactly the short innings a reader is looking up, so the page names the clause and refuses instead.
How many overs can one bowler bowl?
Ten in an ODI (ICC Men’s ODI clause 13.9.1) and four in a Twenty20 international (Men’s T20I clause 13.9.1) for a full innings. In a reduced innings it is one fifth of the total, plus one extra over where the total does not divide by five (ODI 13.9.2 and 13.9.3); the T20I conditions floor it at two overs for an innings of 5 to 9 overs. No bowler may bowl two overs consecutively (clause 17.6).
Are these numbers the same every season?
No, and that is the point of asking whose conditions apply. The ICC revises its playing conditions between seasons, national boards and franchise leagues write their own, and the clause pages the ICC publishes carry no edition year. Everything here was read from the publishing body’s own document on 12 October 2026 and should be checked against the conditions for your own match.
Related calculators
References
- International Cricket Council. Men’s T20I Playing Conditions, clause 28: The Fielder — 28.4.1 (five fielders on the leg side), 28.7.2 (the powerplay is the first 6 overs), 28.7.4 (two fielders outside the circle), 28.7.5 (five after it), 28.7.6 (the shortened-innings table). icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
- England and Wales Cricket Board. Playing Conditions — 20 overs per side — 5.1–5.2 (two fielders outside the circle for the first six overs, five thereafter), 5.3 (the shortened-innings table), 6.1 (no bowler more than one fifth of the scheduled overs). Stated to apply with the Laws of Cricket 2017 Code 3rd Edition (2022). resources.ecb.co.uk (read 12 Oct 2026).
- International Cricket Council. Men’s ODI Playing Conditions, clause 28: The Fielder — 28.7.2.2.1–.3, the three fielding phases of a 50-over innings. icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
- International Cricket Council. Men’s T20I Playing Conditions, clause 13: Innings — 13.6.1 (20 overs), 13.8 (overs reduced at 14.11 an hour), 13.9.1–13.9.2 (4 overs a bowler; one fifth, or 2 overs in a 5–9 over innings). icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
- International Cricket Council. Men’s ODI Playing Conditions, clause 13: Innings — 13.6.1 (50 overs), 13.7.2 (minimum 20 overs for a result), 13.9.1–13.9.3 (10 overs a bowler, one fifth of a reduced total). icc-cricket.com (read 12 Oct 2026).
- Marylebone Cricket Club. The Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code — Law 17.1, “The ball shall be bowled from each end alternately in overs of 6 balls”, and 17.3.3, only valid balls count towards the six. lords.org (read 12 Oct 2026). The MCC’s Laws index lists the current edition as the 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026), while the individual Law pages still carry a 2017 copyright line.