Join India’s Best Online Betting Platform
Join India’s Best Online Betting Platform
Quick answer: The Hundred is England’s 100-ball cricket league, run by the ECB since 2021. Here’s the short version before we get into details:
If you grew up watching the IPL, The Hundred will feel familiar but also a bit different. Same short-format energy, same big auctions and big money now, but a slightly shorter game with its own quirks. This guide covers the format, the teams, the full winners list, and yes, a quick note on where betting on it is actually legal, without pushing you toward anything.
t’s England’s own shortened cricket format, launched by the ECB back in 2021. The board wanted something quicker and less intimidating than T20 — a format a casual viewer, a kid, or someone who’s never picked up a bat could sit through without checking their phone every five minutes.
The core change is simple. Instead of 120 balls (the usual T20 count), each team gets 100 balls. That alone shaves matches down to around two and a half hours, which turned out to be the whole point — people showed up.
Both a men’s and a women’s competition run side by side, usually as a double-header at the same ground on the same day. That’s actually one of the things fans in India often ask about, since the IPL runs men’s and women’s editions separately.
The core rule is right there in the name. Each team bats for 100 balls, bowled in sets of five (instead of the usual six-ball over in T20 and ODI cricket). A bowler can send down either five or ten balls in a row before the ball changes ends, which is a small but real tactical difference from T20.
A few other rules that separate it from a normal T20:
Once you watch one match, the ball-counting stops feeling odd and it plays out very close to a T20 game, just tighter and quicker.
Eight city-based franchises take part, each fielding a men’s and a women’s side. Big change heading into 2026: three teams changed names after fresh outside investment came in during late 2025, including IPL franchise owners buying stakes.
| 2026 Team Name | Former Name | Home City |
|---|---|---|
| MI London | Oval Invincibles | London (The Oval) |
| Sunrisers Leeds | Northern Superchargers | Leeds |
| Manchester Super Giants | Manchester Originals | Manchester |
| London Spirit | — | London (Lord’s) |
| Southern Brave | — | Southampton |
| Trent Rockets | — | Nottingham |
| Welsh Fire | — | Cardiff |
| Birmingham Phoenix | — | Birmingham |
MI London, Sunrisers Leeds and Manchester Super Giants carry the new IPL-linked branding, which is why the names might already sound familiar if you follow Mumbai Indians or Sunrisers Hyderabad back home.
Five full seasons have wrapped up between 2021 and 2025. The 2026 edition, running from 21 July to 16 August, will be the sixth season overall and the first one played entirely under the new ownership structure.
That ownership change is a big deal for the league’s future. Late in 2025, the ECB finalised deals valuing all eight franchises at more than £975 million combined, with a large chunk of that money going straight back into English and Welsh cricket, including grassroots programmes.
The 2026 season begins on Tuesday, 21 July, with the opening double-header at the Kia Oval, where MI London take on Sunrisers Leeds. The tournament then runs through to Sunday, 16 August, when Lord’s hosts Finals Day for both the men’s and women’s competitions, the same venue that has hosted every single Hundred final so far.
Squads for 2026 were built through a new IPL-style two-day auction held in London in March, replacing the old draft system used in previous years. Each men’s squad now works under a salary cap of £2.05 million, and teams can field up to four overseas players in their playing XI, one more than before.
| Season | Men’s Champion | Women’s Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Southern Brave | Oval Invincibles |
| 2022 | Trent Rockets | Oval Invincibles |
| 2023 | Oval Invincibles | Southern Brave |
| 2024 | Oval Invincibles | London Spirit |
| 2025 | Oval Invincibles | Northern Superchargers |
Since fans do ask this, here’s the factual picture. Betting on cricket, including this IPL or international format, is a grey area in India, as it is primarily regulated by state-by-state gambling laws. While traditional betting is illegal in most regions, offshore platforms and daily fantasy sports like Dubaiexch247, Diamonexch99, Dream11 or My11Circle operate under specific legal frameworks.
That legal position applies specifically to India. Gambling laws are different in almost every other country, including the UK, where rules vary by strict licensing boards. If you’re outside India and curious about betting on any sport, the responsible first step is checking what’s actually permitted where you live, rather than assuming an Indian-accessible site’s rules apply to you.
This section is informational only. It does not encourage betting, and nothing here is financial or legal advice on gambling in your jurisdiction.
No. T20 has 120 balls per innings across 20 six-ball overs. This format uses 100 balls, split into sets of five, which changes bowling strategy slightly even though the overall feel is similar.
Three franchises, Oval Invincibles, Northern Superchargers and Manchester Originals, rebranded after new investors, including IPL team owners, bought controlling or partial stakes in late 2025.
Every Hundred final, men's and women's, has been played at Lord's Cricket Ground in London since the tournament began in 2021.
Broadcast and streaming rights are usually announced closer to the season by the ECB and its media partners, so check official Hundred and broadcaster channels nearer the 21 July start date for India-specific coverage.
The ECB wanted a format that could pull in people who found T20 (or cricket in general) too long or too confusing. Shorter matches, simpler rules, prime-time slots — the whole thing was built around making cricket easy to walk into as a first-timer.
Around two and a half hours, start to finish. That's roughly 30-45 minutes shorter than a typical T20 game once you account for the reduced overs and quicker over-rate.
DubaiExch247 is a trusted online betting exchange platform designed for Indian users. We offer fair exchange betting, live sports markets, secure payments, and 24/7 WhatsApp support. Play responsibly and enjoy a transparent betting experience.
