Cricket Glossary: Terms and Scorecards Explained

Reading a score

A score such as 245/6 (42.3 ov) means the batting side has scored 245 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 42 overs and 3 balls. An innings ends when 10 wickets fall (the team is "all out"), when its overs run out in limited-overs cricket, or when the captain declares in a Test.

An over is six legal deliveries bowled by one bowler. Overs are written as overs.balls, so 42.3 is not a decimal: it is 42 overs plus 3 balls.

The formats

• Test: the longest format, up to five days, with two innings per side and no limit on overs. A match can end in a win, a loss, a draw or, very rarely, a tie.
• ODI (One Day International): 50 overs per side, finished in a single day.
• T20 and T20I: 20 overs per side, about three hours. T20I is the international version; leagues such as the IPL, BBL and PSL also play T20.
• First-class and List A: the domestic versions of multi-day and one-day cricket.
• The Hundred and T10: shorter formats of 100 balls and 10 overs per side.

Batting terms

• R and B: runs scored and balls faced by a batter.
• 4s and 6s: boundaries. A four reaches the rope after touching the ground; a six clears it on the full.
• SR (strike rate): runs per 100 balls faced, so 30 runs off 20 balls is a strike rate of 150.
• Not out (*): the batter was still in when the innings ended.
• Fifty and hundred (century): 50 and 100 runs by one batter in an innings.
• Partnership: runs added by two batters while they bat together.
• Fall of wickets: the team score each time a wicket fell, showing how the innings unfolded.

Bowling terms

• O, M, R, W: overs bowled, maidens (overs with no runs off the bat or wides/no-balls), runs conceded and wickets taken.
• Econ (economy rate): runs conceded per over. In T20 an economy under 7 is very good.
• Bowling average: runs conceded per wicket. Lower is better.
• Bowling strike rate: balls bowled per wicket.
• Five-wicket haul (five-for): five or more wickets in one innings.

Extras

Extras are runs not scored off the bat. A wide (wd) is a ball too far from the batter to hit; a no-ball (nb) is an illegal delivery, often from overstepping the crease. Both add a run and must be bowled again. Byes (b) and leg byes (lb) are runs taken when the ball misses the bat. Some formats give a free hit after a no-ball.

Ways to get out

• Bowled: the ball hits the stumps.
• Caught: a fielder catches the ball before it touches the ground.
• LBW (leg before wicket): the ball would have hit the stumps but hit the batter’s pad first.
• Run out: the stumps are broken while the batters are short of their ground.
• Stumped: the wicketkeeper breaks the stumps while the batter is out of the crease.
• Others include hit wicket, obstructing the field and retired out.

Match and table terms

• Toss: the coin toss before play; the winning captain chooses to bat or bowl first.
• Powerplay: overs at the start of an innings with fielding restrictions.
• Required run rate (RRR): runs per over the chasing team needs to win.
• DLS (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern): the method used to set a fair target when rain shortens a match.
• Super Over: a one-over-per-side decider used to break ties in white-ball cricket.
• NRR (net run rate): in a points table, a team’s run rate scored minus its run rate conceded across the tournament. It separates teams level on points.
• NR (no result): a match abandoned without a result, usually because of rain; both teams share the points.

Follow it live

Put the terms to use: open any match from live scores to see the scorecard, ball-by-ball commentary and the Crease Cam side by side, or browse the schedule for upcoming games.