Run rate is the speed of an innings, measured in runs per over. It sits next to the score on every scoreboard as CRR (current run rate) and drives almost every other match calculation: projected totals, required rates, net run rate and rain rules. The calculator above gives you the run rate for any score and overs, with part-overs converted correctly.
How to use the run rate calculator
- Enter the runs scored.
- Enter the overs faced in cricket notation. 49.5 means 49 overs and 5 balls.
- Read the run rate, the balls faced, runs per ball and the equivalent runs per 10 overs.
The run rate formula
Run rate = Runs ÷ Overs
Because the part after the dot is balls, the safe way to calculate is:
Run rate = Runs ÷ (Balls ÷ 6)
For example, 162 runs in 18.4 overs: 18.4 overs is 18 × 6 + 4 = 112 balls, or 18.667 overs. Run rate = 162 ÷ 18.667 = 8.68. Dividing by 18.4 would wrongly give 8.80.
Real match example
The 438 game
- Australia
- 434/4 in 50 overs – run rate 8.68
- South Africa
- 438/9 in 49.5 overs – run rate 8.79
- Result
- South Africa won by 1 wicket with 1 ball to spare
Australia became the first team to pass 400 in an ODI, and South Africa chased it down in the same afternoon. Note how 49.5 overs is 299 balls, so South Africa's rate is 438 ÷ 49.833, not 438 ÷ 49.5.
Load either innings into the calculator with the example buttons. South Africa scored only four more runs than Australia, but because they used one ball fewer, their run rate is higher by about a tenth of a run per over.
Run rate in different formats
- T20: a run rate of 8 to 9 is typical for a first-innings total of 160 to 180. Scores above 200 need 10 or more.
- ODI: 5 to 6 per over is a typical par, giving totals of 250 to 300. Modern batting-friendly conditions often push it higher.
- Test: run rates of 3 to 3.5 are normal. Faster scoring in Tests gives bowlers more time to take 20 wickets.
Run rate by phase of the innings
Run rates rise and fall with the fielding restrictions in each phase. Under ICC playing conditions, a men's T20I has a six-over powerplay in which only two fielders may stand outside the 30-yard circle; after that, up to five are allowed. Men's ODIs use three phases: overs 1–10 (two fielders outside the circle), overs 11–40 (four) and overs 41–50 (five). Teams usually score quickest in the powerplay and the final overs, and slowest in the middle, so a run rate taken at the end of the powerplay is rarely a good guide to the final total.
Run rate versus strike rate
Run rate is for a team (runs per six balls); strike rate is for a batter (runs per 100 balls). They measure the same thing on different scales: strike rate = run rate × 100 ÷ 6. A team scoring 9 an over is going at a strike rate of 150.
Where run rate is used
- Projected totals: multiply the run rate by the remaining overs. See the projected score calculator.
- Chases: the run rate the chasing side needs from now on is the required run rate.
- Tournament tables: net run rate compares how fast a team scores with how fast it concedes, across all its matches.
- Old rain rules: the Average Run Rate method set targets purely on run rate before DLS replaced it.
Extras and the run rate
Run rate uses the team total, so every run counts: runs off the bat, wides, no-balls, byes, leg-byes and penalty runs. The overs count only legal deliveries, because wides and no-balls are bowled again. A bowling side that gives away a lot of wides therefore increases the batting side's run rate twice over: the runs go up while the balls stay the same.
Common mistakes
- Treating 12.3 overs as 12.3. It is 12.5 overs in decimal (75 balls). Use the overs to balls converter when in doubt.
- Using the planned innings length instead of overs faced. Run rate uses the overs actually bowled so far.
- Averaging run rates from different matches. To combine matches, add up all the runs and all the balls first.
Watch run rates change ball by ball on CricketSky's live scores pages.
