A cricket match is abandoned when play is called off, usually because of rain or a wet outfield, and the game cannot be finished. What happens next depends on how much cricket was possible, and on the format.

Match abandoned meaning in cricket

The decision is not up to the captains. Under Law 2.7 of the MCC Laws of Cricket, it is solely for the two umpires together to decide whether the ground, weather or light make play dangerous or unreasonable.

If there is not enough time left for a match to reach a result, it is abandoned. In a Test that is a draw. In a limited-overs match it is a no result: the side batting second must have faced a minimum number of overs for a result to stand, which is 20 in an ODI and five in a T20 International.

‘Abandoned without a ball being bowled’

The line that matters for the record books is the toss. If officials call the match off before the toss has taken place, it is “abandoned without a ball being bowled” and it does not go into official records: no appearance for the players and no match for the teams.

If the toss has taken place and not a ball is bowled, the ICC has, since July 2004, treated the game as a draw (in Tests) or a no result (in limited-overs cricket). It then counts in the records as a match played by both teams and by the named players.

Points when a match is abandoned

In the Indian T20 League, a no result gives each team one point, half of the two points for a win. In the World Test Championship, an abandoned Test is recorded as a draw, worth four points to each side, unless the pitch or outfield is later rated unfit, in which case the visiting team is awarded the win.

Example: Gujarat vs Kolkata, Indian T20 League 2024

Rain meant the Gujarat vs Kolkata match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 13, 2024 was abandoned without a ball being bowled; the toss never took place. The single point each took Team Gujarat, finalists the previous season, to 11 points from 13 matches, too few to reach the top four with one game left, so they were out of the playoff race.

The same point took Team Kolkata to 19 points from 13 matches and guaranteed them a top-two finish and a place in Qualifier 1. They were top of the table with a net run-rate of +1.428, and went on to win the title, their third.

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