How Cricket Scoring Works: Complete Guide for Beginners

Cricket scoring can look complicated when you first see numbers such as 185/6, 42.3 overs or a target of 214 under the DLS method. Once the basic system is clear, however, reading a cricket score becomes much easier.

A team’s score is mainly built from runs. Batters score runs by running between the wickets or hitting boundaries, while extras can also add to the total. At the same time, the fielding team tries to take wickets. In most forms of cricket, an innings ends when ten wickets fall, the available overs are completed, or the batting side declares in a format where declarations are allowed.

For example, a score of 175/4 means the team has scored 175 runs and lost four wickets. If the score reads 175/4 in 20 overs, it means the side scored 175 runs while losing four wickets during its full 20-over T20 innings.

The same principles apply in Tests, ODIs and T20 cricket, although the number of overs and match structure change.

Cricket Scoring Methods

Under the Laws of Cricket, runs can come from completed running, boundaries and penalty awards. Extras such as wides, no-balls, byes and leg byes are added to the team total but are not always credited to the batter.

How Runs Are Scored in Cricket

Runs are the basic unit of cricket scoring.

The simplest way to score is for both batters to run from one end of the pitch to the other after the striker hits the ball.

If they complete one exchange of ends, the batting side scores one run.

If they run back again, they score two.

Three completed runs are possible as well, although they are less common because the ball usually reaches a fielder before the batters can complete three runs.

One, Two and Three Runs

Running between the wickets depends on communication.

One batter calls for the run, and both must reach the opposite crease safely before the fielding team breaks the wicket.

If they attempt a second or third run, they must continue completing each length of the pitch.

A batter can be run out if the wicket is broken while that player is outside the crease.

Runs completed from the bat are credited to the striker.

Four Runs

A four is scored when the ball reaches or crosses the boundary after touching the ground.

The batter does not need to run.

For example, if a batter drives a ball through cover and it rolls into the boundary rope, four runs are added.

Even if the batters start running before the ball reaches the boundary, the boundary normally replaces those completed runs unless special circumstances apply.

Six Runs

A six is scored when a batter hits the ball over the boundary without it touching the ground inside the field.

Six is the highest normal scoring value from one legal delivery off the bat.

Powerful T20 batting has made sixes a central part of modern cricket, but they remain more risky than singles or fours because mistiming the shot can produce a catch.

What Are Extras in Cricket?

Extras are runs added to the team’s score that are not always credited to the batter.

The main types are wides, no-balls, byes and leg byes.

A scorecard normally shows the total extras separately.

For example:

Extras: 12 (4 wides, 2 no-balls, 3 byes, 3 leg byes)

Those 12 runs still count fully toward the team’s total.

Wides

A wide is called when the umpire judges that the delivery is too far away from the batter to be played with a normal cricket stroke.

The batting team receives at least one run.

A wide does not count as one of the legal deliveries in the over.

If the ball also runs away to the boundary, more wide runs can be added.

No-Balls

A no-ball is an illegal delivery.

One common reason is when the bowler oversteps the front crease, although other types of no-ball exist.

The batting team receives one penalty run for the no-ball, and the delivery normally does not count as a legal ball in the over.

The ball remains live, meaning the batter can still score additional runs. The MCC Laws specify that the one-run no-ball penalty is added separately from any other runs scored.

In many limited-overs competitions, a front-foot no-ball is also followed by a free hit.

Byes

Byes occur when the delivery passes the batter without touching the bat or body and the batters run.

Those runs are added to the team total as byes rather than to the batter.

If the ball reaches the boundary untouched, four byes can be scored.

Leg Byes

Leg byes occur when the ball hits the batter’s body rather than the bat and the batters complete runs.

There are conditions.

Under the Laws, the batter must generally have attempted a shot or tried to avoid being hit for leg byes to be awarded.

How Wickets Work

A wicket means a batter has been dismissed.

In a normal innings, a team can lose a maximum of ten wickets because two batters are needed for play to continue.

That is why a team is described as ”all out” after the tenth wicket.

If a scoreboard reads:

145/6

it means the team has scored 145 runs and six batters have been dismissed.

Common Types of Dismissal

The most familiar dismissals include:

– Bowled: The delivery hits the stumps and removes a bail or breaks the wicket. – Caught: A fielder catches the ball before it touches the ground. – LBW: The batter’s body illegally prevents a ball that would have hit the stumps. – Run out: A fielder breaks the wicket while a batter is outside the crease attempting a run. – Stumped: The wicketkeeper removes the bails while the striker is outside the crease and not attempting a run. – Hit wicket: The batter accidentally breaks their own wicket while playing the delivery.

Wickets are crucial because they reduce the batting side’s resources.

A team may have enough overs left to score quickly, but that becomes much harder when only tail-end batters remain.

How Overs and Balls Are Shown

One over normally contains six legal deliveries.

A notation such as 14.2 overs does not mean fourteen point two overs mathematically.

It means 14 full overs plus two legal balls.

So:

– 14.0 = 84 balls

– 14.1 = 85 balls

– 14.2 = 86 balls

– 14.6 is not normally used because after the sixth legal ball the scoreboard becomes 15.0

Wides and no-balls usually do not count toward the six legal balls, which means an over can contain more than six actual deliveries.

How to Read a Cricket Scorecard

A cricket scorecard contains several layers of information.

Suppose a batting card shows:

India 245/6 in 50 overs

That tells you India scored 245 runs and lost six wickets in their complete 50-over innings.

Individual batting lines might look like:

Rohit Sharma 74 (68)

The first number is runs scored.

The number in brackets is balls faced.

If a batter has a strike rate of 108.82, it means they scored approximately 108.82 runs per 100 balls.

Bowling Figures

A bowling line may look like:

10-1-42-3

That usually means:

– 10 overs

– 1 maiden

– 42 runs conceded

– 3 wickets

A maiden is an over in which the bowler concedes no runs attributable to the bowler.

Run Rate

Run rate measures how quickly a team is scoring.

If a team scores 180 runs in 20 overs, the run rate is:

180 ÷ 20 = 9.00 runs per over.

In a chase, broadcasters also show the required run rate.

If a team needs 60 runs from 30 balls, it needs 12 runs per over.

How Targets Work in Cricket

In a normal limited-overs match, the second team must score one more run than the first team’s total.

If Team A scores 250, Team B’s target is 251.

If Team B reaches 251 before losing ten wickets or using all available overs, it wins.

If Team B finishes exactly level with Team A after all available overs, the match is tied unless tournament rules provide a tiebreaker such as a Super Over.

In Test cricket, scoring works differently because each team can normally bat twice, and results depend on the combined totals across those innings.

DLS Method Basics

The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, usually called DLS, is used mainly in rain-affected limited-overs matches.

It does not simply reduce the target in direct proportion to lost overs.

Instead, the method considers the batting team’s remaining resources.

The two main resources are:

overs remaining and wickets remaining.

For example, losing ten overs while a team still has ten wickets available is very different from losing ten overs after that team has already lost eight wickets.

DLS tries to account for that difference.

The ICC explains that revised targets are based on the percentage of scoring resources available rather than just the number of overs lost.

That is why a rain-shortened target can sometimes look surprisingly high or low to new fans.

Famous Cricket Scoring Records

Cricket’s scoring system has produced some extraordinary totals.

Highest Test Team Total

Sri Lanka hold the men’s Test record with 952/6 declared against India in Colombo in 1997.

Sanath Jayasuriya scored 340, while Roshan Mahanama made 225.

Because Test matches have no fixed innings-over limit, teams can build totals far beyond those seen in white-ball cricket.

Highest ODI Team Total

England scored 498/4 against the Netherlands in 2022, one of the most extraordinary batting performances in ODI history.

ODIs are limited to 50 overs per side, making totals near 500 extremely rare.

Highest Men’s T20I Team Total

Zimbabwe scored 344/4 against Gambia in 2024, the highest men’s T20I team total on record. The ICC confirmed it remained ahead of Nepal’s 314/3 and England’s 304/2 in its 2025 record review.

The contrast between these records shows how format length changes scoring strategy.

Tests reward patience and longevity.

ODIs balance accumulation with acceleration.

T20 cricket rewards immediate attacking intent.

Cricket Scoring System: Runs, Wickets and How Scoring Works

Beginners often focus only on the total score.

Experienced cricket fans also look at wickets.

Consider these two scores:

120/1 after 15 overs

and

120/7 after 15 overs

The totals are identical, but the match situations are completely different.

The first team has nine wickets available and can attack aggressively.

The second has only three wickets left and may need to protect the lower order.

This is also why DLS uses wickets as part of its resource calculation.

Runs tell you what a team has already achieved.

Wickets help tell you what the team may still be capable of achieving.

FAQs

What does 200/5 mean in cricket?

It means the batting team has scored 200 runs and lost five wickets.

How many runs is a boundary worth?

A ball that reaches the boundary after touching the ground scores four. A ball hit over the boundary without bouncing scores six.

Do wides and no-balls count as runs?

Yes. Both add at least one extra run to the team total. They are recorded as extras rather than normal runs to the batter.

What does 18.4 overs mean?

It means 18 complete overs and four legal deliveries of the next over, not 18.4 overs in decimal form.

What is the DLS method?

DLS adjusts targets in rain-affected limited-overs matches by considering the overs and wickets available to each team.

How many wickets can a team lose?

A normal innings ends after ten wickets because two batters are required to continue batting.