- published: 04 Apr 2016
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Twenty20, often abbreviated to T20, is a form of cricket originally introduced in England and Wales for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs.
A Twenty20 game is completed in about three and half hours, with each innings lasts around 100 minutes (with a 10-20 minute interval), thus bringing the game closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a lively form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television and as such it has been very successful. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of cricket and these have continued alongside it.
Since its inception the game has spread around the cricket world. On most international tours there is at least one Twenty20 match and all Test-playing nations have a domestic cup competition. The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 was played in South Africa in 2007 with India winning by five runs against Pakistan in the final. Pakistan won the second tournament in 2009, and England are the reigning champions after winning the 2010 title.