The Hundred vs T20: Every Rule Difference Explained
The Hundred is a shorter form of T20 cricket, not a different sport. Each side faces 100 balls instead of 120, ends change every ten balls instead of every six, and a tied knockout is settled by a five-ball Super Five rather than a Super Over. Most of the rest, including the penalty for a no-ball and the free hit, is the same. This page compares The Hundred with the Vitality Blast, England's 20-over competition, using both competitions' 2026 playing conditions.
The Hundred vs T20 at a Glance
| The Hundred | T20, Vitality Blast | |
|---|---|---|
| Balls per side | 100 | 120 |
| How they are bowled | Five-ball sets; ends change every 10 balls | Six-ball overs; ends change every over |
| Most a bowler can bowl | 20 balls | 24 balls, four overs |
| Consecutive balls by one bowler | 5 or 10 | One over, then a rest |
| Powerplay | First 25 balls, two fielders outside the circle | First six overs, two fielders outside the circle |
| Fielders outside the circle after the powerplay | Five for men, four for women | Five |
| Strategic timeout | One of up to 90 seconds, called by the fielding side | None |
| No-ball | One run and a free hit | One run and a free hit |
| Tie in a knockout | Super Five, a second Super Five, then league position | Super Over, count-back, a second Super Over, then a bowl-out |
| Slow over rate | One fewer fielder outside the circle | One fewer fielder outside the circle |
| Knockout stage | Top team to the final; second plays third in an eliminator | Quarter-finals, then semi-finals and final on Finals Day |
How the 100 Balls Work
The marketing says sets and balls; the rulebook says overs. The 2026 Hundred playing conditions define an over as five balls and an innings as up to twenty of them. Two five-ball overs are bowled from each end in turn, so the ends change every ten balls, and a bowler can bowl one or both of them. The umpire holds up a white card after the first five from an end. That is what lets a captain keep a bowler on for ten balls in a row, which is impossible in T20.
The Rules That Differ
- The strategic timeout: the fielding captain can call one break of up to 90 seconds, at any point except during the first 25 balls of an innings. The Blast has nothing similar.
- The Super Five: if an eliminator or final is tied, each side faces one five-ball set, with two wickets ending its innings. If that is tied, there is a second Super Five, and if that is also tied, the team that finished higher in the league goes through. The Blast uses a six-ball Super Over and a count-back.
- The women's field: in the women's competition only four fielders are allowed outside the circle after the powerplay, and the circle is smaller.
The Rules That Are the Same
A no-ball costs one run in both, plus anything scored off it, and the next ball is a free hit. The idea that a Hundred no-ball is worth two runs is wrong for 2026: neither competition changes the Law's one-run penalty. Both punish a slow over rate by taking a fielder out of the deep for the remaining balls. In the Hundred, a bouncer over head height is a wide and the third umpire calls front-foot no-balls. Our guide to no-balls covers the Law itself.
Do Hundred Runs Count as T20 Records?
Yes. The ECB classes the Hundred as T20, and the Association of Cricket Statisticians, in its guidance from 2021, says the ICC does not treat the Hundred as a separate category from T20, so it is recorded as a variant of T20 cricket. That decision mattered this summer. On 5 August 2026 Jos Buttler made 51 from 20 balls for Manchester Super Giants against Welsh Fire and passed Kieron Pollard to become the leading run-scorer in men's T20 history, as cricket.com.au reported, with his Hundred runs counted. Chris Gayle publicly questioned whether they should be.
Is the Hundred Changing to T20?
Not for now. After talk in 2025 of switching to 20 overs, the ECB's chair said the Hundred would stay at 100 balls for 2026, and nothing in the 2026 playing conditions changed the balls, the powerplay, the timeout or the Super Five. What did change in 2026 was off the field: new owners, three renamed teams and a first player auction, all covered in our guide to the Hundred teams. The format itself, its history and its winners are in our guide to the Hundred.
FAQs: The Hundred vs T20
Is the Hundred a T20 competition?
Statistically, yes: the ECB classes it as T20, and its runs and wickets count towards T20 career records.
How many balls can a bowler bowl in the Hundred?
Twenty, in sets of five or ten, against 24 in a T20.
How long is the powerplay in the Hundred?
The first 25 balls, with two fielders allowed outside the circle.
Is a no-ball two runs in the Hundred?
No. It is one run plus a free hit, the same as in T20.
What happens if a Hundred match is tied?
In the league stage, both teams take two points. In a knockout match, a five-ball Super Five decides it.
Leave a comment