Twenty20

Twenty20 cricket, sometimes written Twenty-20, and often abbreviated to T20, is a short form of cricket. At the professional level, it was originally introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition in England and Wales. In a Twenty20 game the two teams have a single innings each, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs. Together with first-class and List A cricket, Twenty20 is one of the three current forms of cricket recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as being at the highest international or domestic level.

A typical Twenty20 game is completed in about three hours, with each innings lasting around 75–90 minutes and a 10–20-minute interval. This is much shorter than previously-existing forms of the game, and is closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a fast-paced form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television.

Since its inception the game has been very successful resulting in its 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 won the title in 2010 and West Indies won in 2012. Sri Lanka are the reigning champions after winning the 2014 competition beating India by 6 wickets.

ICC World Twenty20

The ICC World Twenty20 (also referred to as the World T20, and wrongly as the T20 World Cup) is the international championship of Twenty20 cricket. Organised by cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament currently consists of 16 teams, comprising all ten ICC full members and six other associate or affiliate members chosen through the World Twenty20 Qualifier. The event has generally been held every two years, although there is a four-year gap between the next two scheduled tournaments (2016 in India and 2020 in Australia). All matches played are accorded Twenty20 International status.

Five tournaments have so far been played, and no team has yet won the tournament on multiple occasions. The inaugural event, the 2007 World Twenty20, was staged in South Africa, and won by India, who defeated Pakistan in the final at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The 2009 tournament took place in England, and was won by the previous runner-up, Pakistan, who defeated Sri Lanka in the final at Lord's. The third tournament was held in 2010, hosted by the countries making up the West Indies cricket team. England defeated Australia in the final in Barbados, which was played at Kensington Oval. The fourth tournament, the 2012 World Twenty20, was held in Asia for the first time, with all matches played in Sri Lanka. The West Indies won the tournament by defeating Sri Lanka in the final, winning its first international tournament since the 2004 Champions Trophy. The fifth tournament, the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, was hosted by Bangladesh, and was won by Sri Lanka, who became the first team to play in three finals.