Cricket scoring
Required Run Rate in Cricket: Target, Balls Left and Worked Examples
ClubStory Editorial · 8 November 2026
Calculate required run rate from runs needed and legal balls remaining. Follow a five-over chase example and avoid common overs-notation and target mistakes.
What required run rate tells you
Required run rate is the average runs per over a chasing team needs from the remaining balls to reach its target. It changes as runs are scored and valid deliveries are used. It describes the scoring requirement; it is not a prediction of the winner.
This guide focuses on an ongoing chase in six-ball-over cricket. Net run rate is a separate tournament standings calculation, covered in the related guide below.
Use runs needed and balls remaining
Required run rate = runs needed × 6 ÷ valid balls remaining. Runs needed = official target − current score. Use the target to win, not simply the opponent’s final score. In an ordinary uninterrupted chase of 50, for example, the target is 51; always confirm the official target for your match.
For a fixed allocation of five six-ball overs, there are 30 valid balls available. If 2.3 overs have been bowled, that is 15 valid balls used, leaving 15. The dot separates completed overs from balls: it is not a decimal fraction.
Worked five-over chase
Illustrative match: target 51, current score 24, and 2.3 overs completed in a five-over chase. Runs needed = 51 − 24 = 27. Balls used = 2 × 6 + 3 = 15. Balls remaining = 30 − 15 = 15. Required run rate = 27 × 6 ÷ 15 = 10.80 runs per over.
The equivalent requirement is 27 from 15 balls, or 1.80 runs per ball. Both describe the same arithmetic. Neither tells you what shots to play or whether the team will win. Keep the actual runs-and-balls line visible alongside a rounded rate.
Recalculate after the next delivery
From 27 needed off 15 balls, a legal dot ball leaves 27 from 14: required rate 27 × 6 ÷ 14 = 11.57 after rounding. A legal four instead leaves 23 from 14: required rate 9.86. These are alternative outcomes from the same starting position, not consecutive deliveries.
A wide or no-ball does not count as one of the six valid deliveries under the standard over provisions. Record the umpire’s decision and all credited runs before recalculating. Do not automatically subtract a valid ball merely because a delivery was attempted. Follow your competition’s playing conditions and official score record.
Why dividing by 2.3 is wrong
Two overs and three balls equal 2 + 3 ÷ 6 = 2.5 mathematical overs. Dividing by the displayed cricket notation 2.3 produces a different answer. Using integer ball counts throughout avoids this error.
To convert 15 balls back into cricket notation, take two completed groups of six with three balls remaining: 2.3 overs. An ordinary completed six-ball over is displayed as the next whole over, rather than retaining a .6 ball digit.
Current rate, required rate and net run rate
Current run rate uses runs already scored and valid balls already faced. Required rate uses runs still needed and valid balls still available. In the example, current rate is 24 × 6 ÷ 15 = 9.60, while required rate is 10.80.
Net run rate compares scoring rates across the matches counted under tournament rules. Do not enter a required run rate into the NRR column of a points table. Use the specific standings regulations when calculating NRR.
Rain changes and completed chases
If the officials revise the target or allocation, use the newly announced target and remaining valid balls. Required-rate arithmetic does not calculate a DLS target and must not be used as a substitute for the competition’s approved target-setting method.
When no valid balls remain, do not divide by zero. Record the official result. When the target has been reached or the innings has ended, show the result rather than a misleading live asking rate. Confirm any exceptional result with the officials.
A scorer’s update checklist
Before updating the chase line, confirm the official target, current total, valid balls used, latest allocation and whether play is still live. Keep run and ball values as integers in the calculation and round only the displayed rate.
For the example, an approval note can read: Target 51; score 24; allocation 30 balls; used 15; need 27 from 15; required rate 10.80. This makes the calculation reproducible by another scorer.
Use the official scorecard and umpire signals to resolve discrepancies. ClubStory’s scoring and tournament guides below help organizers prepare the surrounding workflow.