How to read a cricket scorecard: runs, overs, economy, strike rate and extras

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A cricket scorecard packs a whole innings into a few lines. Once you know what each column means, you can see how the match unfolded, who scored quickly, which bowler did the damage and where the innings turned. This guide walks through a typical scorecard from top to bottom.

The headline score

Scores are written as runs for wickets, so 245 for 6, often shown as 245/6. In Australia the order is often reversed, so 6/245 means the same thing. If a team is bowled out, the score shows runs only, often with all out. Overs are written with a dot, but it is not a decimal. 34.4 overs means 34 complete overs and 4 balls. A normal over has six legal deliveries, so 34.6 never appears; it becomes 35.

The batting section

Each batter has a row, in the order they batted.

How out: for example c Smith b Jones means caught by Smith off the bowling of Jones. b Jones alone means bowled. lbw b Jones is leg before wicket. run out shows the fielder or fielders involved. st means stumped, by the wicketkeeper. not out means the batter was still in at the end.
R: runs scored.
B: balls faced.
4s and 6s: boundaries hit.
SR: batting strike rate, the runs scored per 100 balls faced. A batter with 50 off 40 balls has a strike rate of 125.

Some scorecards also show minutes batted.

Extras

Runs not credited to any batter are listed as extras.

Byes: runs taken when the ball passes the batter and the keeper without touching the bat or body.
Leg byes: runs taken after the ball hits the batter's body, provided they tried to play it or avoid being hit.
Wides: a delivery too far from the batter to hit with a normal stroke. It adds runs and must be bowled again.
No-balls: an illegal delivery, such as overstepping the crease. It adds a run, must be bowled again, and the batter cannot be out in most ways.
Penalty runs: awarded for certain breaches of the Laws.

The total is the sum of the batters' runs and the extras.

Fall of wickets

This line shows the team score when each wicket fell, for example 1-12, 2-87, 3-90. It shows partnerships at a glance: here the second wicket added 75 and then two wickets fell close together, a classic turning point.

The bowling section

Each bowler has a row.

O: overs bowled.
M: maidens, overs in which no runs were conceded off the bat and no wides or no-balls were bowled.
R: runs conceded. Wides and no-balls count against the bowler; byes and leg byes do not.
W: wickets taken. Run outs are not credited to the bowler.
Econ: economy rate, the runs conceded per over. A bowler with 40 runs from 10 overs has an economy of 4.
Wd and NB: wides and no-balls bowled, on some scorecards.

A bowling figure is often written as overs, maidens, runs, wickets, so 10-1-42-3 means ten overs, one maiden, 42 runs and three wickets.

Averages and bowling strike rate

These appear in career statistics rather than a single scorecard.

Batting average: runs divided by the number of times out. Not-out innings add runs but not dismissals.
Bowling average: runs conceded per wicket.
Bowling strike rate: balls bowled per wicket taken, so lower is better. This is a different measure from a batter's strike rate.

Reading the story

Compare strike rates to see who accelerated and who anchored.
Check the fall of wickets for collapses and big partnerships.
Look at economy alongside wickets. In short formats, a tight spell without wickets can matter as much as a costly three-wicket spell.
Note extras. A large number of wides and no-balls often signals a scrappy bowling performance.
In a chase, compare run rates: the required rate against the current rate tells you who is ahead.

Ball-by-ball commentary

Many online scorecards include a ball-by-ball log. Each entry is numbered by over and ball, so 12.3 is the third ball of the 13th over, which also catches people out at first. What part of a scorecard did you find hardest to follow? Share your experience or questions in the comments.