5 Similarities between Cricket and Baseball

The first-ever international cricket match took place in the United States of America (USA) between Canada and the USA in 1844. However, the gentleman’s game couldn’t gain a stronghold in the USA as baseball took shape in the country.

Both sports have their roots in England, and no wonder there are some similarities between them. This article will list the 5 similarities between cricket and baseball.

1. Batters and Bowlers / Pitchers

The playing concept of both cricket and baseball is the same. A bowler or a pitcher delivers the ball towards the batter, who tries to hit it and score runs.

2. Objective

The main objective of cricket and baseball is to score more runs than the opposition. Batters can score runs by hitting the ball and running between the wickets (in cricket) or running between the bases (in baseball). The team that scores more runs wins the match.

3. Fielding

Apart from batting and bowling or pitching, cricket and baseball have fielders spread on the field. When the batter smashes the ball, the fielders get in action to either catch it, affect run-outs (in cricket) or tag a runner (in baseball) and prevent them from scoring runs.

4. Boundaries

In cricket and baseball, batters are rewarded with a six or a home run for hitting the ball out of the playing field. In cricket, a batter bags 6 runs, while in baseball, a batter earns all 4 bases.

5. Innings and Tie-Breaker

Both sports are spread across multiple innings, with teams taking turns to bat and field. In cricket, a Test match lasts for 4 innings, while a limited-overs match (ODI and T20) has 2 innings. A full baseball game consists of 9 innings.

If a cricket match or a baseball game ends in a tie, then both sports have a provision for a tie-breaker. In cricket, a Super Over, which consists of 6 legal balls, is used, while in baseball, an extra innings is played to determine the winner.

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