Dew is the thin film of water that settles on the outfield during evening and night matches. It sounds harmless, but in India it often decides who wins: a wet ball is hard to grip, so the side bowling second struggles, and the side batting second gets easier runs. That is why captains who win the toss in a day-night game so often choose to bowl first.

What is dew in cricket?

Dew is moisture from the air that condenses on the grass after sunset. Once the sun goes down, the ground loses heat by radiating it into the sky. Blades of grass cool quickly, and when their surface drops below the dew point (the temperature at which the air can no longer hold its water vapour), droplets form on them. Clear skies, high humidity and still air make it heavier, because there are no clouds to hold the heat in and no wind to mix in drier air.

In cricket terms, that means a dry outfield at the start of an evening match can be soaking by the second innings. Every time the ball runs across the grass it picks up water.

Why dew helps the team batting second

  • Spinners lose their grip. A wet ball slides out of the fingers, so it is harder to put revolutions on it, and it turns less off the pitch.
  • Seamers lose control. A slippery ball is harder to land exactly, and yorkers and slower balls, the death-overs weapons, are the first to go wrong.
  • The ball comes onto the bat. A wet ball tends to skid on rather than grip in the surface, which makes stroke-play easier.
  • Fielding gets harder. Catches and throws are more likely to slip.

Because dew usually gets heavier as the night goes on, it hurts the team bowling second far more than the team bowling first. In a close match that can be the difference between defending a total and watching it chased down.

Where and when dew matters most

Dew is a bigger factor in the Indian subcontinent than almost anywhere else, because evenings there are humid and many matches are played under lights. It is a regular feature of evening matches in the cooler months after the monsoon. Before the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, played in October and November, heavy dew was expected at several venues, and the ICC gave curators guidance to reduce its effect (see below).

How teams and grounds counter dew

Anti-dew sprays on the outfield

Ground staff at Indian venues spray the outfield with a chemical agent in the hours before an evening match. It coats the grass so that water runs off rather than settling, which reduces the dew, although it does not remove it. For India v Zimbabwe at Chennai’s Chepauk in the 2026 T20 World Cup Super 8s (26 February 2026), an imported spray called Dew Cure was applied over two days before the match and again on the afternoon of the game.

More grass on the pitch

For the 2023 ODI World Cup the ICC asked Indian curators to leave more grass on the pitches and to keep boundaries at around 70 metres. More grass keeps the fast bowlers in the game, so the side bowling under dew is not left relying on spinners who cannot grip the ball.

The IPL’s ball-change rule

From IPL 2025, the team bowling second in an evening match can ask for the ball to be changed once, at the end of any over after the 10th. The umpires must grant that first request whether or not there is dew, and the replacement ball has a similar amount of wear, chosen by the umpires. Further changes are at the umpires’ discretion. The rule was kept for IPL 2026. In all cricket, umpires can still replace a ball that has become too wet to play with.

Towels and wet-ball practice

Fielders dry the ball on a towel between deliveries, and bowlers prepare for dew by practising with a deliberately wet ball. India seamer Prasidh Krishna has described dipping the ball in water and bowling with it in training.

The toss

The simplest counter is to avoid bowling in it. When dew is forecast, the captain who wins the toss will usually bowl first, so that their own bowlers work with a dry ball and their batters chase under lights. Dew and the toss are among the first things to check before a day-night match; our guide to cricket betting sites in India covers where to follow the markets.

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