Cricket Bet Types

Cricket gives you more markets than almost any sport, but the ones that matter divide into two camps: who wins, and what happens along the way. The trick every casual misses is that the format changes how every one of them behaves — a top-batsman bet in a T20 is a different animal from the same bet in a Test. Here’s each market that earns its place, and how T20, ODI and Test shift it.

You place all of these at Scorebet, where the cricket markets run live across every format.

Match result — the two-way and the three-way

The headline market, but it isn’t always shaped the same. In a T20 or ODI it’s a straight two-way price: this side or that side wins, with a tie so rare it barely features. In a Test it’s a three-way market, because the draw is a real outcome — across five days, weather and a stubborn batting effort can wall off a result, and the draw is often priced shorter than punters expect on a flat pitch.

Format read: a 1.55 favourite in a coin-flip T20 is a worse bet than the same price in an ODI, where the better side has 50 overs to assert itself. In a Test, ignore the draw at your peril — backing a result on a featherbed deck is how money leaks away.

Top batsman and top bowler

You back a player to top their team’s runs (top batsman) or wickets (top bowler) in the innings. Reputation is the trap here; role and position are the read. An opener faces the most deliveries and has the longest runway, so they often carry a structural edge over a flashier name at number five.

Format read: in a T20 the variance is brutal — a big name can be out for a duck off the third ball, which is why the prices stay generous. In an ODI the longer innings smooths it, so a settled top-order batter is a sounder bet. In a Test, a top-bowler bet rewards reading the conditions — a green seamer or a turning deck tilts it hard toward one bowling type.

Total match runs — over/under

The bookmaker sets a runs line; you bet whether the real total finishes over or under it. This is a read on the surface and the format, not the winner — which is why it’s a clean way to bet when you fancy the pitch but have no view on the result.

Format	Typical run environment	What moves the line
T20	high — big totals on flat decks	boundary size, pitch, batting depth
ODI	moderate — paced across 50 overs	conditions, whether it’s day or day-night
Test	spread over innings — lower per session	pitch deterioration, weather, the bowling attacks

A flat T20 deck at a small ground plays high; a seaming Test pitch under cloud plays low. Read the surface before the line.

Team total

A narrower version of the over/under — the runs one specific side posts. Back this when you rate a team’s batting but aren’t sure they win, or when you fancy one innings to be big or small regardless of the result. The same format logic applies: T20 totals swing widest, Test totals reward a conditions read.

Method of dismissal

You back how a batsman goes out — bowled, caught, lbw, run out and so on. It’s a specialist market that pays when you know the surface. A turning Test pitch lifts lbw and bowled; a bouncy seamer-friendly deck lifts caught behind and in the slips. In a T20 the run-out and caught-in-the-deep prices reflect how often batters take risks. Niche, but value hides here for anyone reading the conditions properly.

Man of the match, series winner and the toss

Three more that round out the board:

• Man of the match — a player to be named the standout. Often an all-rounder or a top-order batter in a winning side; the award skews toward the result, so factor in who you think wins.
• Series winner — a futures bet across a multi-match series. It parks your money for the length of the contest, so treat it like any future and only stake what you’re happy to tie up.
• The toss — a literal 50/50 on which captain calls right. It’s a coin-flip with the margin baked in, so it’s pure punt, not a value bet — but in a Test where batting first matters, the decision after the toss feeds your other markets.

A worked example, in rand

Say it’s a T20 on a flat deck at a small ground, and you read it as a high-scoring game. You skip the coin-flip match result and back over on total match runs at 1.85. A R100 stake returns R185 if it lands (R85 profit). The edge isn’t a guess at the winner — it’s a read on the surface and the format that the line hasn’t fully priced. That’s the point of the totals market: you bet what you actually know.

Pick the market to fit your read

The mistake is betting every market on every match; the skill is betting only the one you have a genuine read on. Know the format first — it reshapes all of the above — then choose the market that matches your view. Brand new to this? Walk through the order in how to bet on cricket. Want to apply it to the side most South Africans bet? See the Proteas page, or step back for the full cricket betting picture. The markets are live at Scorebet.