In cricket, an innings is declared finished if:
- Sufficient wickets are taken – all but one of the batsmen are out (dismissed)
- A team chasing a given target number of runs to win manages to do so
- A set number of overs are bowled
- A captain declares his innings closed
- Match Referee may forfeit the game
An innings also ends if the game finishes as a draw.
Taking wickets
When the bowling team has dismissed all but one of the batsmen the innings is said to be over. The batting team is said to be 'all out'.
For example, in most games, each side has 11 players, so 10 wickets need to be taken to bowl a side out.
There is an exception to this rule if one or more batsmen are too injured or ill to bat. In such cases, when only one batsman remains not out and capable of batting, the innings is over.
Overs bowled
In some games, each team is allocated a set number of overs and its innings is closed once they have been bowled (subject to the innings not ending by another method beforehand).
A restriction can be imposed in a one-innings game, or in the first innings of a two innings game.
Where such a restriction is imposed in a one-innings game, it is said to be a limited overs match. An example of this is an ODI match, where each team can bat for only 50 consecutive overs. Once the 50 overs are up, and the team has not been bowled out, the innings is closed. If rain intervenes so that all the allocated overs cannot be bowled in the time available for the game, the overs restriction may be modified so that the game may be completed in the time that remains.
Declaration
If the captain of the batting team feels that his team has amassed a sufficiently large score, he, or the batsmen at the crease deputising for him,
may end his team's innings volutarily by declaring. This option does not apply to limited overs matches. Declarations allow the declaring side to use all the remaining time to attempt to gain the wickets necessary for victory.
Achieving the target
If the initial batting team has set a target –and the team which bats last manages to achieve the target, the innings is ended with a win for the team chasing.
Forfeiture
In the event of the match being disrupted by unruly fans of the host team, the Match Referee may cede the match to the visiting team, if they are in a vantage position. This has happened once so far in the Cricket World Cup 1996 semifinal, when the India-Sri Lanka match was abandoned and Sri Lanka were declared the winners.
