Powerplay Rules in Cricket: ODI and T20 Fielding Restrictions Explained
A powerplay in cricket is a block of overs in a limited-overs innings when the fielding side can only place a small number of fielders outside the 30-yard circle. Under current powerplay rules, a T20 international has one six-over powerplay with a maximum of two fielders outside the circle, while a one-day international splits its 50 overs into three phases: overs 1 to 10 (two outside), overs 11 to 40 (four outside) and overs 41 to 50 (five outside).
That’s the core of it. The detail is where things get interesting: why the rules exist, how they have changed, how rain-shortened matches are handled, what happens when a captain gets the field wrong and how franchise leagues such as the Big Bash and The Hundred have bent the idea into new shapes. This guide covers all of it.
Powerplay rules at a glance
| Format | Overs | Most fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle |
|---|---|---|
| T20 international (20 overs) | Overs 1 to 6 (powerplay) | 2 |
| Overs 7 to 20 | 5 | |
| One-day international (50 overs) | Overs 1 to 10 (first powerplay) | 2 |
| Overs 11 to 40 (second powerplay) | 4 | |
| Overs 41 to 50 (third powerplay) | 5 | |
| Test cricket | All overs | No powerplay: only the general fielding Laws apply |
Key facts
- T20Is: overs 1 to 6 are the powerplay, with no more than two fielders outside the 30-yard circle. After that, up to five can be outside.
- ODIs: three phases, known as P1 (overs 1 to 10, max two outside), P2 (overs 11 to 40, max four) and P3 (overs 41 to 50, max five).
- Test cricket has no powerplays and no fielding circle.
- Breaking a fielding restriction is a no-ball, which in white-ball cricket also means a free hit.
- Since July 2025, powerplays in shortened T20Is are calculated ball by ball (a 10-over game has a three-over powerplay, an eight-over game 2.2 overs).
- Slow over rates in T20Is are punished during the match: one fewer fielder is allowed outside the circle for the remaining overs.
What is a powerplay in cricket?
The word sounds dramatic, but the idea is simple. In limited-overs cricket, a fielding captain who is defending a total would love to put every fielder on the boundary, cut off the fours and sixes and let the batters scratch around for singles. That makes for dull cricket. Powerplays stop it by forcing most of the field to stay close in for set periods.
The key marker is the fielding circle. It isn’t actually a circle: it’s two semicircles with a radius of 30 yards (27.43 metres), each centred on the middle stump at either end, joined by straight lines parallel to the pitch. It is usually marked with white discs or a painted line. A fielder counts as “inside” if part of their body is touching the ground inside the line, or grounded on it, when the ball is delivered. Wherever they run once the bowler lets go doesn’t matter.
During a powerplay, the batting side gets gaps over the top of the infield. Lofting the ball over mid-off or mid-wicket, which would be risky with a sweeper on the fence, becomes a percentage shot. That’s why scoring rates spike in the opening overs of almost every T20 and ODI innings.
Powerplay rules in T20 cricket
T20 keeps it simple. In a full 20-over T20 international, the first six overs are the powerplay. During that period the fielding side may have no more than two fielders outside the 30-yard circle. From the seventh over onwards, up to five can be outside.
Those six overs shape the whole innings. A team that reaches 60 or more without losing a wicket is usually set up for a big total, while losing two or three early wickets forces a rebuild in exactly the period when runs are supposed to be cheapest. Captains often bowl their best new-ball swing bowler and a mystery spinner during the powerplay, trying to steal wickets while the batters are attacking.
The IPL and other T20 leagues
Most domestic T20 competitions copy the ICC model. The Indian Premier League uses a standard six-over powerplay with two fielders allowed outside the ring. Its Impact Player rule (used in the 2026 season, though its future has been hotly debated) has made powerplay hitting even more aggressive, because teams effectively bat deeper and can afford early risks. The most famous example is Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 125 without loss in the first six overs against Delhi Capitals in April 2024, with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma clearing the in-field almost at will. For a broader look at the competition, see our full list of IPL winners.
The Big Bash and the Power Surge
Australia’s Big Bash League does things differently. Its opening powerplay lasts four overs rather than six. The batting side then has a two-over “Power Surge” that it can call at any time from the 11th over onwards. During the Surge, the same restriction applies: only two fielders outside the circle. The idea is to give batters a second burst of attacking opportunity late in the innings, and to give captains a tactical decision about timing.
The Hundred
England’s 100-ball competition has a powerplay of the first 25 balls of each innings, during which only two fielders may be outside the circle. Everything else in The Hundred is counted in balls rather than overs, so the powerplay follows suit.
Powerplay rules in ODI cricket
One-day internationals have used the current three-phase system since July 2015. It’s easy to remember once you see it laid out.
| Phase | Overs | Max fielders outside 30-yard circle | Typical approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powerplay 1 (P1) | 1 to 10 | 2 | Attack the new ball, use the gaps square and over the top |
| Powerplay 2 (P2) | 11 to 40 | 4 | Rotate strike, build partnerships, target the weaker bowler |
| Powerplay 3 (P3) | 41 to 50 | 5 | All-out acceleration with wickets in hand |
Notice the trap in P3. Five fielders on the boundary sounds generous to the bowling side, and it is. The last ten overs are when the field is most spread, but they are also when batters swing hardest, so you still see huge totals. The difference is that boundaries have to be hit cleanly, and mishits are more likely to be caught.
The middle phase is the subtle one. With four fielders out, captains can protect both square boundaries and keep a long-on or long-off, but they must still leave gaps somewhere. Good ODI batters spend P2 manipulating the field, picking ones and twos and waiting for a loose ball.
Shortened ODIs
When rain reduces an ODI, the powerplay phases are cut back in proportion to the overs available. The match officials work out the new lengths using the ICC’s tables before play resumes, and the scoreboard will normally display the revised phases. If the overs are reduced during an innings, the numbers are recalculated for the remaining part of the innings. When the target also changes, that’s handled separately by the DLS method.
How the powerplay rules have changed over time
Fielding restrictions are older than the word “powerplay”. By the early 1990s, ODIs restricted the field for the first 15 overs, allowing just two fielders outside the circle. The 1992 World Cup used this system, and New Zealand’s Mark Greatbatch made his name that tournament by teeing off at the top of the order.
Sri Lanka turned the idea into a weapon at the 1996 World Cup. Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana attacked from ball one, treating the first 15 overs as a licence to hit over the infield rather than a time to see off the new ball. Sri Lanka won the tournament, and opening strategy in one-day cricket was never quite the same. You can relive that story in our 1996 World Cup final highlights.
The 2005 to 2015 experiments
The word “powerplay” arrived in 2005, when the ICC split the restricted overs into a mandatory first ten plus two five-over blocks whose timing the fielding captain chose. Later, one of those blocks was handed to the batting side, creating the “batting powerplay”. For a few years ODI fans got used to the sight of a batting captain signalling to the umpire that they were taking their five overs.
It didn’t really work. Teams often delayed the batting powerplay until late in the innings, when they were going to attack anyway, so it added complexity without much drama. The bowling powerplay was scrapped in 2012, and the batting powerplay went in 2015. The changes in 2015 also removed the old rule requiring two close catchers during the first ten overs, and brought in the simple 10-30-10 structure still in use.
Shortened T20Is from July 2025
The most recent change affects rain-reduced T20 internationals. Before 2025, powerplay lengths in shortened games were rounded to whole overs, which could be unfair in some match lengths. Since July 2025, the ICC has calculated them to the ball. The current figures are below.
| Overs per innings | Powerplay length |
|---|---|
| 5 | 1.3 overs |
| 6 | 1.5 overs |
| 7 | 2.1 overs |
| 8 | 2.2 overs |
| 9 | 2.4 overs |
| 10 | 3 overs |
| 11 | 3.2 overs |
| 12 | 3.4 overs |
| 13 | 3.5 overs |
| 14 | 4.1 overs |
| 15 | 4.3 overs |
| 16 | 4.5 overs |
So in an eight-over thrash, the field opens up after the second ball of the third over. It looks fussy, but it means the powerplay always takes up roughly 30 per cent of the innings, the same as in a full game. The full wording sits in the ICC playing conditions.
What happens if the fielding side breaks the restriction?
If there are too many fielders outside the circle when the ball is bowled, the umpire calls and signals a no-ball. The square-leg umpire usually does the counting, since they have the best view of the field. The batting side gets the usual one-run penalty plus whatever they score off the ball, and the delivery has to be bowled again.
In ODIs and T20Is, every no-ball is followed by a free hit, so the mistake costs even more. The striker can’t be out caught, bowled, stumped or lbw off the free hit, and if the same batter is on strike, the fielding side generally can’t rearrange the field for it.
These errors happen more often than you might think. A fielder drifts back a few metres to cut off a boundary, or a captain loses count after a bowling change. Some broadcasts now show live graphics of the circle so viewers at home can spot it as quickly as the umpire.
Other fielding rules that sit alongside powerplays
- No more than two fielders behind square on the leg side at the moment of delivery. This is part of the Laws of Cricket, and it exists to prevent bodyline-style tactics.
- No more than five fielders on the leg side in international white-ball cricket.
- No fielder (other than the wicketkeeper) on the pitch itself before the batter has played or missed.
Breaking any of these is also a no-ball.
Over-rate penalties: the powerplay in reverse
Since January 2022, T20 internationals have used an in-match penalty for slow over rates. If the fielding side isn’t in position to bowl the first ball of its final over by the scheduled cut-off time, it may only have four fielders outside the circle, rather than five, for every remaining over.
That sounds minor, but losing a boundary rider in the death overs is a real cost. One extra gap at deep mid-wicket or long-off can be worth ten runs in the last few overs. The IPL has adopted its own version of the rule, and captains now watch the clock almost as closely as the scoreboard.
Powerplay tactics: how teams use the restrictions
For batting sides
The basic plan is to score as many as possible while the field is up, without losing too many wickets. In T20, modern openers tend to go hard from the first ball. In ODIs, there’s a wider range of approaches: some teams try to set the platform in P1, others accept a slightly slower start in exchange for keeping wickets for P3.
Look at India’s batting in recent ICC tournaments and you’ll see how much the thinking has shifted. Under Rohit Sharma, India’s openers often took on the new ball in the first ten overs of ODIs, accepting that they’d sometimes lose early wickets in return for big powerplay totals. It became the team’s trademark at the 2023 World Cup.
For bowling sides
Bowling captains have two broad choices. They can attack with the new ball, setting slips and a short leg and trying to take wickets, or they can defend by bowling tight lines to a straight field. In T20 especially, a wicket in the powerplay is worth a lot because it slows the batting side’s whole innings.
Spinners in the powerplay used to be rare. Now they’re common. A wrist-spinner or a tight off-spinner bowling into the pitch can be hard to hit over the circle, and the hard new white ball sometimes skids on. Captains also use pace off the ball, with cutters and slower balls, to make hitting through the line harder.
Why the middle overs matter in ODIs
P2 is the longest period in an ODI, 30 overs, and it’s where most matches are actually decided. With four fielders allowed out, teams can contain without being purely defensive. Strong middle-order players, who find the gaps and keep the scoreboard ticking without risk, are worth their weight in gold. Think of how Virat Kohli has built so many ODI chases, steering the ball into gaps rather than clearing the rope. Our comparison of Babar Azam and Virat Kohli looks at two batters who mastered this phase.
Common mistakes and myths about powerplays
“The batting side chooses when to take the powerplay”
Not any more, at least not in international cricket. That was true between 2008 and 2015 with the ODI batting powerplay. Today, ODI and T20I powerplays are fixed. The only major competition where the batting side picks the timing is the Big Bash, with its Power Surge.
“Fielders must stay inside the circle”
Fielders only have to be inside at the moment the ball is delivered. Once the bowler releases it, they can move wherever they need. A fielder walking in with the bowler from just inside the line is perfectly legal.
“Powerplays exist in Test cricket”
They don’t. Test cricket has no fielding circle and no powerplay. A Test captain can, in theory, put nine fielders on the boundary, subject only to the leg-side and pitch rules that apply in all cricket.
“The circle is always the same size”
At international level, it’s 30 yards. Junior and some recreational competitions use smaller rings, and The Hundred and other leagues have their own regulations, but for men’s and women’s international cricket the distance is fixed.
“Breaking the restriction is just a warning”
It’s a no-ball every time, with no warnings. And because a free hit follows, it’s one of the most expensive errors a fielding side can make.
Powerplay rules compared across formats
| Format | Powerplay structure | Max outside circle | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| T20I (20 overs) | Overs 1 to 6 | 2 (then 5) | Pro-rata to the ball in shortened games |
| ODI (50 overs) | 1 to 10, 11 to 40, 41 to 50 | 2, then 4, then 5 | Phases scaled down in reduced matches |
| IPL | Overs 1 to 6 | 2 (then 5) | Impact Player rule used in 2026 |
| Big Bash League | Overs 1 to 4, plus 2-over Power Surge from over 11 | 2 during both | Batting side chooses when to take the Surge |
| The Hundred | Balls 1 to 25 | 2 | Everything is counted in balls |
| Test cricket | None | No limit | Leg-side rules still apply |
If you want to see how these rules shape big tournaments, our lists of T20 World Cup winners and Cricket World Cup winners are a good place to start: almost every champion side had a clear plan for the powerplay.
Frequently asked questions
How many overs are in a powerplay in T20 cricket?
Six overs in a full 20-over innings. In a rain-shortened T20 international, the length is reduced in proportion, calculated to the ball since July 2025. A 10-over game, for example, has a three-over powerplay.
How many fielders can be outside the circle in an ODI?
Two during overs 1 to 10, four during overs 11 to 40 and five during overs 41 to 50. These limits apply at the moment each ball is bowled.
What is the 30-yard circle in cricket?
It’s the oval marked around the pitch, made of two 30-yard semicircles centred on each set of stumps and joined by straight lines. Fielding restrictions count how many players are outside it when the ball is delivered.
Is there a powerplay in Test cricket?
No. Test cricket has no fielding circle, so there are no powerplay restrictions. Captains can set any field, as long as they follow the Laws on leg-side fielders and the pitch.
What happens if a team breaks the powerplay fielding restrictions?
The umpire calls a no-ball. The batting side gets one penalty run, the delivery is rebowled, and in ODIs and T20Is the next ball is a free hit.
What is the Power Surge in the BBL?
A two-over period in the Big Bash League that the batting side can call from the 11th over onwards. During it, only two fielders can be outside the circle, just as in the four-over opening powerplay.
Did the ODI powerplay rules change in 2023?
No. ODIs in 2023, including the World Cup in India, used the same three-phase system that has been in place since 2015: at most two fielders outside the circle in overs 1 to 10, four in overs 11 to 40 and five in overs 41 to 50.
How many fielders can be outside the circle after the T20 powerplay?
Five. Once the six-over powerplay ends, the fielding side can have up to five fielders outside the 30-yard circle for the rest of a 20-over innings.
Powerplays are where white-ball matches are often won and lost, so they’re worth watching closely next time you settle in for a game. For more from the sport, head to our cricket hub for the latest fixtures, results and highlights.
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