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Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings. If the second team to bat scores substantially fewer runs than the first team, the first team can enforce the follow-on, instructing the second team to bat again immediately. In this case the sequence of batting innings will be first team, second team, second team and then, if needed, the first team again. This is in contrast to the normal progression of batting innings which is first team, second team, first team, second team.

This rules governing the circumstances in which the follow-on may be enforced are found in Law 13 of the Laws of cricket.

Minimum lead[]

The number of runs by which a team must lead to enforce the follow-on upon its opponent is determined by Law 13 of the Laws of cricket, which takes the length of the match into consideration:

  • In a match of five days or more, a side which bats first and leads by at least 200 runs has the option of requiring the other side to follow-on.
  • in a match of three or four days, 150 runs;
  • in a two-day match, 100;
  • in a one-day match with two innings per side, 75.

Where a match is shortened, the leads required to have the option of enforcing the follow-on are determined by how many days' (or part-days') play remain when the match starts. For example, suppose a match is scheduled for five days, but the first day is washed out because of rain. If the match then begins on the second scheduled day of the match, the team batting first needs a first innings lead of 150 runs or more to have the option of enforcing the follow-on. This only applies to time lost before the first ball has been bowled: if a five-day match starts on the scheduled first day but, say, the second day is completely lost, it still counts as a five-day match for the purposes of calculating the follow-on target.

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