A bowl-out is used in various forms of limited overs cricket to decide a match that would otherwise end in a tie. The procedure is similar to a penalty shootout in association football. Five bowlers from each side deliver one or two balls each at an unguarded wicket

Wicket

In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

 (three stumps). If each team has hit the same number of wickets after the first five bowlers per side, the bowling continues and is decided by sudden death.

First match decided by bowl-out

A bowl-out was first used in the NatWest Trophy in June 1991 in a match between Derbyshire and Minor County side Hertfordshire at Bishops Stortford. Derbyshire bowled first and Steve Goldsmith managed one hit from his two deliveries. Ole Mortensen, Alan Warner, Frank Griffiths and Simon Base all missed with both of theirs.
Hertfordshire's first bowler, Andy Needham, hit with his first ball but missed with his second. John Carr, missed with both his, Bill Merry, struck middle with his second attempt to win the match.

International Cricket

The International Cricket Council

International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...

 (ICC) introduced the bowl-out should scores be tied in the semifinals and final of the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy

2006 ICC Champions Trophy

The 2006 ICC Champions Trophy was a One Day International cricket tournament held in India from 7 October to 5 November 2006. It was the fifth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy...

 or the 2007 Cricket World Cup

2007 Cricket World Cup

The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...

, although it was not required to be used in either tournament. At the ICC Annual Conference 2008 it was decided that the bowl-out should be replaced by a one-over "eliminator" (also called a "Super Over

Super Over

A Super Over, sometimes referred to as an "Eliminator", or an 'Oopse' ,is one of two extra overs in a Twenty20 cricket match when the regular match ends in a tie. Instead of equally dividing the points between the two participating teams, the winning team of the "Super Overs" takes all the points...

") in the 2008 ICC Champions Trophy (since postponed) and the 2009 ICC World Twenty20

2009 ICC World Twenty20

The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament which took place in England in June 2009. It was the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007...

.

International T20

Up until the introduction of the "Super-Over" in International Twenty20

Twenty20 International

A Twenty20 International is a form of cricket which is played over 20 overs per side between two national cricket teams. The game is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket...

 cricket, if a match ended with the scores level (either because both teams reached the same score after 20 overs

Over (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....

, or the second team scored exactly the par score under the Duckworth-Lewis method

Duckworth-Lewis method

In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

), the tie was broken with a bowl-out. The first international bowl-out in a Twenty20 match took place on 16 February 2006, when New Zealand beat West Indies 3-0 in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

.
A bowl-out was also used on 14 September 2007 when India beat Pakistan 3-0 during the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 in Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

Domestic T20

A bowl-out was first used to decide a domestic Twenty20 match when Surrey beat Warwickshire in July 2005.

Current use

In some forms of domestic one-day cricket competition, a bowl-out is used to decide the result when the match is tied or rained out: for example, the quarterfinal of the Minor Counties Cricket Association Knockout Trophy

MCCA Knockout Trophy

The Minor Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the Minor Counties in English cricket...

 in 2004, when Northumberland

Northumberland County Cricket Club

Northumberland County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northumberland and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...

 beat Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club

Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Cambridgeshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy.The club is based at The Avenue...

 4-2. In the 2009 Twenty20 Cup

2009 Twenty20 Cup

The 2009 Twenty20 Cup was the seventh Twenty20 Cup competition for English and Welsh county clubs. The finals day took place on 15 August at Edgbaston, and was won by the Sussex Sharks.-Midlands/Wales/West Division:-North Division:...

, Somerset

Somerset County Cricket Club

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

 beat Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...

5-1 to reach the semi-final stage.