How to read a cricket scorecard

Understand overs, batting figures, bowling figures and extras through a fictional T20 chase.

CRICVARA · ISEA GROUP · 2026-09-27

Read the match situation first

Start with the format, the innings and the target. A score of 146/4 usually means 146 runs with four wickets lost. It does not tell you whether the team is ahead without the other innings and the match conditions. In a chase, identify the target before comparing individual performances. The examples here are fictional and assume an uninterrupted, standard 20-over innings.

Overs are not decimal numbers

A display of 17.3 means 17 completed overs and three valid balls: 105 balls altogether. It is not 17.3 decimal overs. A normal over contains six valid balls; wides and no-balls do not use up one of those six. For arithmetic, convert 17.3 to 17 + 3/6, or 17.5 overs. At 146 runs, the current rate is therefore 146 ÷ 17.5, approximately 8.34 runs per over.

Read a batter's row

The common columns R, B, 4s, 6s and SR show runs, balls faced, fours, sixes and strike rate. A batter with 45 from 30 balls has a strike rate of 150: 45 ÷ 30 × 100. This is a scoring rate per 100 balls, not a prediction. An asterisk commonly marks a not-out score. Read the dismissal text too: it explains how the innings ended, while a blank future batting row is not a duck.

Separate team runs from individual runs

Add the batters' runs and extras to check the innings total. Extras may include wides, no-balls, byes, leg-byes and penalty runs. Byes can arise when the ball misses both bat and body; leg-byes have conditions, including an attempt to play the ball or avoid being hit. Neither is credited to the batter. A no-ball hit for four normally adds five to the team: four to the batter and one no-ball extra.

Decode the bowling figures

A line of 3.2–0–24–2 commonly means 3 overs and 2 balls, no maidens, 24 runs conceded and 2 wickets. Those 20 valid balls equal 3⅓ overs, so the economy rate is 24 ÷ 3⅓ = 7.20. Bowling runs include wides and no-ball extras, but exclude byes and leg-byes. Team wickets and bowlers' wickets can differ because a run-out is not credited to a bowler.

Turn the numbers into a useful question

At 146/4 after 17.3 overs, chasing 171, the batting team needs 25 from 15 balls. That is 10 runs per over. Now ask who is batting, which bowlers have overs left, and how the pitch is playing. Required rate describes the task; it does not guarantee the outcome. If rain changes the target, use the revised target and allocation shown by the official scorer.

Official references

Prepared with AI assistance. Please report any error. The applicable competition conditions take precedence.

Suggest a correction