How are runs scored in cricket?

Runs are scored by hitting the ball and either running between the two creases or hitting a boundary. Crossing the boundary on the bounce is four runs; clearing it on the full is six runs. Each completed run between batsmen also counts as one.

What are extras in cricket?

Extras are runs added to the batting team's total that were not scored off the bat. The five categories are wides, no-balls, byes, leg byes, and penalty runs. Extras count toward the team total and the bowler's analysis (except byes and leg byes).

How is run rate calculated?

Run rate equals total runs divided by overs faced. If a team scores 90 in 10 overs, the run rate is 9.00 runs per over. Required run rate is the runs needed divided by overs remaining; it tells the chasing team how fast they must score.

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By Bunty Bhatura · April 26, 2026 · 6 min read

How Cricket Scoring Works: Runs, Wickets, Extras Explained

Cricket scoring sounds intimidating until you realise it is just two numbers separated by a slash. The first number is runs, the second is wickets, and everything else hanging off the scoreboard exists to explain how those two numbers got that way.

This guide walks through every component of a cricket scorecard the way SweepSix tracks it in the Masala Premier League. If you can read 92/4 (15.3 ov), you can read any cricket scoreboard in the world.

The Two Headline Numbers

Runs are how many points the batting team has scored. Wickets are how many of their batters have been dismissed. A scoreboard reading 92/4 means the team has scored 92 runs and lost 4 wickets. A team is "all out" when they have lost 10 wickets, because the eleventh batter cannot bat alone.

How Runs Are Scored

There are three ways to score runs:

Running between the wickets. The two batsmen sprint between the creases. Each completed crossing is one run. They can run as many as the ball allows before a fielder returns it.
Boundaries. If the ball touches the ground inside the field of play and then crosses the boundary rope, that is four runs. If it clears the rope on the full (without bouncing), that is six runs. The batsman gets the credit for both.
Extras. Runs added to the team total that were not actually hit. Bowler errors and field errors create these.

The Five Types of Extras

Extras add to the batting team's total but are awarded for things that were not the batsman's fault. SweepSix counts all five:

Wide: The ball passed too far away from the batsman to be hit. One run penalty plus the ball is rebowled (does not count as a legal delivery).
No-ball: The bowler stepped over the popping crease, bowled too high, or otherwise broke the delivery rules. One run penalty, the ball is rebowled, and the next delivery is a free hit (the batsman cannot be out except run-out).
Bye: The ball missed both bat and body, slipped past the wicket-keeper, and the batsmen ran. The runs are byes; the bowler is not charged.
Leg bye: The ball hit the batsman's body (not the bat), they ran, and the umpire judged that they had attempted to play a shot. Leg byes count for the team but not the bowler's analysis.
Penalty runs: Awarded for serious infringements like fielders deliberately wasting time or damaging the ball. SweepSix does not currently simulate penalty runs because the AI does not yet know how to be petty.

How Wickets Are Lost

The standard ways to be out, all of which can happen in SweepSix:

Bowled: The ball hits the stumps directly off the bowler's delivery.
Caught: A fielder catches the ball off the bat before it touches the ground.
LBW (Leg Before Wicket): The ball would have hit the stumps but was stopped by the batsman's pad. There are several conditions; SweepSix uses the same rules as professional cricket, including the impact and pitching tests.
Run-out: A fielder breaks the stumps with the ball while the batsman is short of the crease during a run.
Stumped: The wicket-keeper breaks the stumps when the batsman is out of the crease and not attempting a run.
Hit-wicket: The batsman dislodges their own stumps with their bat, body, or kit.

Run Rate, Required Run Rate, NRR

These three numbers tell you the pace of the match.

Run Rate (RR or CRR for current run rate) is total runs divided by overs faced. A team on 90 after 10 overs has a run rate of 9.00. SweepSix shows this on the scoreboard at all times.

Required Run Rate (RRR) applies to the team chasing in the second innings. It is the runs still needed divided by the overs still to bowl. If the chasing team needs 60 runs in 5 overs, the required rate is 12.00 per over. RRR is the most stressful number on a scoreboard, especially in T20 cricket.

Net Run Rate (NRR) is a tournament-level number, not a single-match number. It compares the run rates of all the matches a team has played. NRR is the tiebreaker for tournament tables when two teams finish on equal points. SweepSix Tournament mode tracks NRR across the bracket.

Bunty's take: Run rate is the only piece of cricket maths that matters in T20. If your CRR is higher than the opposing team's, you are winning. If it is lower than the RRR, you are losing. Everything else is decoration.

Reading a Full SweepSix Scorecard

After every SweepSix match you can pull up a full scorecard with batting figures, bowling figures, fall of wickets, and extras. Here is what each line means:

Batting line (e.g. "Virat Gobhi: 47 (32) - SR 146.87"): runs scored, balls faced, strike rate. Strike rate is runs per 100 balls.
Bowling line (e.g. "Jas Bumraita: 4-0-22-2 - Econ 5.50"): overs bowled, maidens (overs with no runs), runs conceded, wickets taken, economy rate (runs per over).
Fall of Wickets: The team total at each dismissal. Reading "FoW: 23 (2.4), 67 (8.1), 92 (12.3)" tells you the first wicket fell at 23 runs in the 2.4th over, the second at 67 in the 8.1st over, and so on.

Try It Yourself

The best way to internalise scoring is to play a match and watch the scoreboard tick over. SweepSix updates the score in real time on every ball, including all five types of extras and all six dismissal types.

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