How to keep score in cricket

Cricket scoring at a glance

How do you score runs in cricket?

A run is scored each time the two batters cross and reach the other end safely. The runs go to the batter who hit the ball, so a quick single is 1, two lengths of the pitch is 2, and so on. If the ball reaches the boundary, the batters can stop running, because the boundary counts instead:

• Four: the ball touches the ground before it crosses the boundary, for 4 runs.
• Six: the ball clears the boundary without bouncing inside it, for 6 runs.

A ball with no run from it is a dot ball, because a scorebook marks it with a dot.

Which runs are not scored off the bat?

These are the extras. They go on the team total, and a scorecard lists them on a line of their own.

Wides and no-balls count against the bowler; byes and leg byes do not. The differences, and who is credited with what, are in cricket extras explained.

How do wickets work?

A wicket falls each time a batter is out, and a new batter comes in. There are nine ways to be out. Bowled, caught, hit the ball twice, hit wicket, leg before wicket (lbw), obstructing the field, run out, stumped, timed out.

An innings ends when 10 wickets have fallen, because the last batter has no partner left. The side is all out, even if it still has overs to face.

How many balls are in an over?

An over is 6 legal balls, bowled by one bowler from one end. The next over is bowled from the other end, and no bowler may bowl two overs in a row.

Wides and no-balls are not part of the six. Each adds a run and is bowled again, so an over with one of each has eight deliveries. Here is one, ball by ball:

The ball after a no-ball is a free hit in ODIs and T20 internationals (see how a free hit works).

How is a cricket score written?

Runs first, then wickets: 145/6 is read as "145 for 6". Australia writes it the other way round, 6/145, and says "6 for 145".

The overs go alongside as overs.balls, so 18.2 overs means 18 completed overs and 2 balls of the next. The figure after the point counts balls from 0 to 5, so 18.5 is followed by 19.0, never 18.6. As a decimal, 18.2 overs is 18.333, which matters for rates; the overs to balls converter does the sum.

So a full line reads 145/6 in 18.2 overs. The run rate is runs divided by overs as a decimal: 145 ÷ 18.333 = 7.91 an over. A bowler's figures read overs, maidens, runs, wickets: 4-0-32-2 is 4 overs, no maidens, 32 runs and 2 wickets, an economy rate of 8.00.

How is the target set, and how are results stated?

The side batting second must score more runs than the first side made, so the target is the first total plus 1: if the first side makes 177, the target is 178. The chase stops the moment the target is reached, when the overs run out (20 in a T20, 50 in an ODI), or when the chasing side is all out.

A win by wickets often adds the balls that were left, as in "won by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare". A tied T20 international goes to a Super Over, one six-ball over for each side, repeated until one side wins. Test cricket works differently, with two innings a side and draws; see cricket formats explained.

A T20 chase, over by over

The Foxes bat first and make 177/6 in their 20 overs, so the Owls need 178 from 120 balls. The scorer tracks the runs needed from the balls left and the rate needed: runs needed divided by overs left. The required run rate calculator does the same sum for any chase.

The six off the fourth ball of the last over takes the Owls to 178 and ends the match. They lost 6 wickets, so they won by 4 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Had they finished their 20 overs on 170/8, the Foxes would have won by 7 runs; on 177, level with the Foxes, it would have been a tie.