Bowled and caught

Law 32 — Bowled

The striker is bowled when a delivery that is not a no ball fairly breaks their wicket. The ball may first touch their bat or body. It must not first touch another player, an umpire or the wicket at the other end. Other forms of dismissal can still apply in those cases.

Bowled takes priority over every other dismissal justified by the same incident.

Law 33 — A completed catch

A catch requires a delivery that is not a no ball to touch the striker’s bat before touching a fielder, then be fairly held without first touching the ground. A catch is complete only when the fielder controls both the ball and their own movement. Boundary rules also apply: neither the ball nor a fielder in contact with it may be grounded beyond the boundary before completion.

• A catch may be held in the hands, hugged to the body, lodged in worn external protective equipment, or accidentally caught in clothing.
• After the bat contact, a rebound from a wicket, umpire, another fielder, runner or the other batter does not by itself invalidate a catch.
• A lawful second strike can still produce a catch if the ball has not touched the ground since the first strike and at least one strike involved the bat.

Law 33 — Runs and priority

On a caught dismissal, completed runs from that delivery do not count, but awarded penalty runs remain. The non-striker returns to their original end; crossing before the catch does not decide who faces next. If bowled does not apply, a valid caught dismissal takes priority over other dismissal methods.