Overs to Balls Converter

Cricket counts overs in a way that confuses almost everyone at first. 10.3 overs is not ten and three-tenths of an over; it is ten overs and three balls. This converter turns overs into balls, balls back into overs, and gives you the true decimal value you need for run rates, economy rates and every other calculation. It also supports eight-ball overs for historical scorecards.

How to use the overs to balls converter

1. Enter an overs figure in cricket notation, such as 10.3 or 49.5.
2. Enter a number of balls to convert back into overs.
3. Choose balls per over: 6 under the current Laws, or 8 for historical matches.
4. Read the overs as balls, the true decimal value and the balls as overs.

The conversion formulas

Balls = Completed overs × 6 + Balls in the part-over

Overs = (Balls ÷ 6, whole number) . (Balls remainder)

Decimal overs = Balls ÷ 6

Examples with six-ball overs:

• 10.3 overs = 10 × 6 + 3 = 63 balls = 10.5 decimal overs
• 49.5 overs = 299 balls = 49.833 decimal overs
• 100 balls = 16 full overs and 4 balls = 16.4 overs
• 120 balls = 20.0 overs, a full T20 innings

Why the notation works this way

Law 17 of the MCC Laws defines an over as six legal deliveries bowled from one end. Scorers record overs as "completed overs . balls in the current over". After the sixth legal ball the over is complete, so the figure moves from x.5 straight to (x+1).0. You will never see 4.6 or 4.7 in six-ball cricket.

Only legal deliveries count. Wides and no-balls must be bowled again, so an over can contain more than six deliveries while still counting as one over. The extra deliveries add runs to the total but not balls to the over count.

Why the decimal value matters

Any calculation that divides by overs must use the true decimal value. Take a bowler who concedes 7 runs in 3.2 overs:

• Correct: 3.2 overs = 20 balls = 3.333 overs, so economy = 7 ÷ 3.333 = 2.10
• Wrong: 7 ÷ 3.2 = 2.19

That was Deepak Chahar's spell of 6 for 7 against Bangladesh in Nagpur in 2019, and the gap between the right and wrong answers shows why this matters. The same applies to run rate, required run rate and net run rate.

Part-over decimal values

If you work in a spreadsheet, it helps to know the decimal value of each part-over in six-ball cricket:

• x.1 overs = x + 0.167
• x.2 overs = x + 0.333
• x.3 overs = x + 0.5
• x.4 overs = x + 0.667
• x.5 overs = x + 0.833

A simple spreadsheet approach is to store everything in balls, do all your arithmetic in balls, and convert to overs notation only for display. This avoids rounding errors and makes adding spells or innings together straightforward. The converter above does exactly that behind the scenes.

Eight-ball overs

Six balls has not always been the standard. Eight-ball overs were used for long periods in Australia, and at times in other countries, during the 20th century. When you read an old scorecard, check how many balls made up an over before converting. With eight-ball overs, 10.7 overs is 87 balls. Switch the "balls per over" option to 8 to convert historical figures correctly.

Common mistakes

1. Treating 10.3 as a decimal. It is 10.5 decimal overs.
2. Adding overs like decimals. 4.4 + 3.4 overs is not 7.8; it is 28 + 22 = 50 balls = 8.2 overs.
3. Counting wides and no-balls as balls. Only legal deliveries count.
4. Assuming every scorecard uses six-ball overs. Older matches may not.

Ready to use your numbers? Try the economy rate or bowling strike rate calculators, which handle the conversion automatically.