Night Match: Free 3D Cricket Game You Can Play Right Now in Your Browser
Night Match is CricketScoreToday's own 3D cricket game — a floodlit T-style contest that runs entirely in your browser with nothing to download or install. It is not a video highlight or a scoreboard widget: you actually bat, bowl and field-place your way through a two-innings match. Time your shots against genuine ball physics, charge down the pitch for extra power, sprint quick singles with a run-out risk on every call, then grab the ball and attack the stumps with your own line, length and pace.
Every side fields a named batting order, and the live scorecard under the scoreboard tracks each batter's runs and balls faced, rotating the strike after odd runs and at the end of each over — just like a real limited-overs innings. Play a one-over thriller in ninety seconds or settle in for a full ten-over innings each. The game runs on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops, scales its graphics to your device, and works in fullscreen with a pause menu whenever life interrupts.
Quick facts
How to Bat, Bowl and Run
Batting
The bowler runs in from the sightscreen end — watch the ball out of the hand and tap just before it reaches your crease. Timing controls power; where you tap controls direction.
- Left third of the screen works the ball to the leg side
- Middle drives it straight back past the bowler
- Right third carves it through the off side
- ▲ / ▼ footwork: charge for power against full bowling, drop back for time against the short stuff — but a charge-and-miss is a stumping
- RUN button: every tap commits both batters to one run. Beat the fielder's throw or lose your wicket
Bowling
A top-down pitch map appears when you have the ball. Press and hold to place your marker — higher on the map is fuller, lower is shorter, left and right set the line.
- While you hold, the pace bar climbs and falls — release in the gold zone for top speed with best accuracy
- Good length on the stumps forces defensive blocks, edges and bowled dismissals
- Short, wide or over-pitched deliveries get punched to the rope — the AI punishes bad balls, visibly
- Miss the return crease entirely and the umpire signals a wide: one extra, bowl it again
Full Controls Reference
| Action | Touch | Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Play a shot | Tap left / centre / right of the screen as the ball arrives | ← leg side · Space straight · → off side |
| Footwork | ▲ step down the pitch · ▼ step back | W advance · S retreat |
| Take a run | Tap the gold RUN button after a shot | R or Enter |
| Bowl | Hold the pitch map, drag to aim, release on the gold pace zone | Arrow keys to aim, hold and release Space |
| Pause / resume | ⏸ button, top-right of the game | |
| Fullscreen | ⛶ button, top-right of the game | |
Game Modes and Difficulty
Career vs AI
Bat first to set a total, then defend it ball-by-ball with your own bowling. Every completed match feeds a persistent career record: matches, wins, runs, best score, batting average, strike rate, wickets and economy — saved in your browser.
Pass & Play
Two players, one device, no internet needed. Player 1 bats while Player 2 bowls every single delivery, then a hand-over screen swaps you for the chase. Separate scorecards, one winner.
Three difficulties
These are not labels — Legend nearly halves your batting timing window versus Easy, bowls up to 25 m/s with tighter lines, bats smarter and judges sharper singles. Easy is a net session; Legend is a contest.
Your match, your length
One over (2 wickets) for a lunch-break shootout, five overs (5 wickets) for a proper slog, or a full ten-over innings each with all ten wickets in play.
How to Win: Tactics That Actually Work
With the bat
The swing window opens just before the ball reaches the crease — watch the bounce, not the bowler. Go straight against full balls, pull short balls to leg, and treat the outfield as a run machine: a tapped single beats an ambitious swipe in a tight chase. Charge only when you have read the length early.
With the ball
Pace without accuracy buys boundaries. Live on a good length at off stump, then surprise the set batter with a yorker at the base of the stumps. The pace bar's gold zone matters more than raw speed — a slower, accurate ball beats a fast leg-side gift.
In the field
When the AI mistimes into the ring, the throw comes in fast — that is where run outs happen. As the chasing side, keep an eye on the required rate in the hint bar: singles keep it manageable, dots make it a mountain.