A bizarre manner in which a result can be achieved is if one team 'concedes' the match to another, or if the Referee or umpires do the same. The seventh Test of the 1970-71 Ashes series, played at Sydney, came perilously close to ending in this fashion. Terry Jenner, the leg-spinner who in later years became famous as Shane Warne's Guru, was felled by a John Snow bouncer. The incensed crowd started throwing empty beer cans on the field. As if this wasn't enough, Snow was manhandled by a spectator when he returned to his fielding position on the boundary. This prompted Ray Illingworth, the captain of England, to take his team off the field. After a while, the umpires approached Illingworth in the dressing room to find out his intentions, so that they could decide whether or not to 'do the needful'. Illingworth agreed to restart play, but insisted on the field being cleared and additional security arranged. The game resumed after some time, thus preventing history from being created!
 

Law 21 states that the match is said to have ended as soon as a team scores the required number of runs. The game shall not proceed any further.

In one-day matches, a result can only be achieved if each side has had the opportunity to bat for a minimum of 20 overs (the previous minimum over-requirement was 25 per side). The match is declared 'abandoned' if one of the two sides has batted for less than 20 overs, and rain or bad light or any factor renders further play impossible. However, if a result is achieved within 20 overs - if the team batting second is bowled out for less than 20 overs, or if the team batting second achieves its target within the 20-over mark - then it is considered a complete match.

A 'tie' is treated as a 'draw' or 'No result' encounter. In the past, there were occasions when the team that had lost fewer wickets in a tied game was declared the winner. But this is not the case anymore.
 

India was involved in a match that was 'conceded' by one side to the other. India's tour of Pakistan in 1978-79 comprised three one-day internationals. India won the first one-dayer and Pakistan the second. At Sahiwal in the third game, the Indians were very much in the driver's seat, only a few runs short of a target of 206 with several wickets in hand. Faced with the prospect of a series loss, the Pakistanis resorted to bowling short-pitched stuff, delivery after delivery sailing over the batsmen's heads. In those days, the interpretation of negative bowling was not as well-defined as it is today. As the Indian batsmen continued to try to make contact with the ball, the umpires ignored the tactics and refrained from declaring wides and no-balls. This went on for quite some time and the asking rate started mounting. Finally, a disgusted Bishan Bedi called his batsmen in, thereby conceding the match. This remains the only instance of a match being conceded at the international level. Pakistan were declared winners by 'default'.

India were at the receiving end of another 'default' in 1996 when they found themselves at 120-8 in pursuit of a Sri Lankan total of 251-8 in the World Cup semi-final. The Kolkata spectators went on the rampage and hurled stones and rubbish on the ground. After a long hold-up, Clive Lloyd, the Match Referee, awarded the match to Sri Lanka.

A result was achieved in a rather funny manner in a one-dayer between Pakistan and the West Indies at Georgetown in 1992-93. The game went right down to the wire, as was expected with both teams deadlocked at 2-2 in the five-match series. With three needed to win from the last ball, West Indian Ian Bishop struck a shot in the deep. Wasim Akram, the Pakistani skipper, was in the process of collecting and throwing it when the spectators invaded the ground, believing that their side had won, when in fact they hadn't. The invasion enabled the batsmen to complete the second run to tie the game, and the West Indies were declared winners as they had lost five wickets to Pakistan's six. Those were the days when this was allowed. However, Raman Subba Row, the ICC Referee, declared the match a 'tie' after Pakistan lodged an appeal. The series remained squared at 2-2!

Subba Row was involved in another odd finish at Kochi in the 1999-00 season. With India needing four to win a one-dayer against South Africa from four balls, Anil Kumble placed the ball in the third-man region and he and Robin Singh ran three, even as Jacques Kallis made a valiant attempt to stop the ball from crossing the rope. However, he crossed the rope while doing so and umpire M. Singh signalled four after consulting the TV umpire. However, it turned out that there was a communication gap between the on-field and off-field umpires. It was after the players reached the pavilion that the TV umpire managed to bring to everyone's notice that Kallis had in fact not touched the rope while stopping the ball, which meant that it wasn't a boundary. As a result, Subba Row, the Referee, ordered the players to return to the field. Robin Singh then took a single to complete what was India's 'second' win of the day!

- By Piloo Reporter