How to Read a Cricket Scorecard

What Do All Those Cricket Scorecard Numbers Mean?

What is a cricket scorecard?

It is the official summary of a match that shows how many runs everyone scored, how each batter got out, and how the bowlers performed.

What does a score like 185/6 mean?

It means the team scored 185 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Runs come first, wickets after the slash.

Do I need to memorise the symbols?

No. Once you learn a handful of abbreviations, the whole card becomes easy to read at a glance.

What Is a Scorecard?

A scorecard is cricket's way of telling the story of a match in numbers. At first glance it can look like a wall of letters and figures, but it follows a simple, consistent layout every time. Once you know what each part means, you can open any match report on Cricket Daily and understand exactly what happened without watching a ball.

This guide walks through a scorecard piece by piece, using simple examples along the way.

The Match Header: The Score at a Glance

The first thing you see is the headline score for each team, and it uses a simple format:

India 185/6 (20 overs)

Reading this from left to right: the team is India, they scored 185 runs, they lost 6 wickets, and they did so in 20 overs. The number before the slash is always runs, and the number after it is always wickets. (In some countries you will see it written with a dash instead, like 185-6, but it means the same thing.)

If a team loses all 10 of its wickets, you will see "all out," for example "India 170 all out." And the result line at the top tells you who won:

• "Won by 15 runs" means the team batting first defended their total.
• "Won by 5 wickets" means the team batting second chased it down, with five wickets to spare.

The Batting Section

Next comes the batting section, one row per batter, with several columns. Here is a typical line:

R Sharma c Root b Archer 62 (41) 7 2 151.22

Working across the columns:

• The name: the batter, here R Sharma.
• The dismissal: how they got out, here "c Root b Archer" (more on this below).
• R (62): runs scored.
• B (41): balls faced.
• 4s (7): number of fours hit.
• 6s (2): number of sixes hit.
• SR (151.22): strike rate.

Strike rate is a measure of how quickly a batter scores. It is the number of runs they would score per 100 balls, worked out as runs divided by balls, times 100. A high strike rate means fast, aggressive scoring, which matters most in the shorter formats.

At the bottom of the batting list you will see "Did not bat" or "Yet to bat," which simply lists the players who did not get a turn because their team either finished its overs or won before they were needed.

Decoding Dismissals

The dismissal column uses short codes for how each batter got out. These are the ones you will see most:

• b Archer: bowled by Archer (the ball hit the stumps).
• c Root b Archer: caught by Root, off the bowling of Archer.
• lbw b Archer: leg before wicket, off Archer.
• run out (Root): run out, with Root the fielder who broke the stumps.
• st Buttler b Rashid: stumped by wicketkeeper Buttler, off the bowling of Rashid.
• c & b Archer: caught and bowled, meaning the bowler Archer also took the catch.
• not out: the batter was never dismissed. In a completed innings, this usually means they were still there at the end.

The simple rule: the name after "b" is always the bowler who gets credit for the wicket, and the name after "c" or "st" is the fielder or keeper who helped.

Extras and the Total

Just below the batters you will find Extras, which are runs the batting team gained without a batter hitting the ball. They are shown with their own codes:

• b: byes
• lb: leg byes
• w: wides
• nb: no-balls
• p: penalty runs

So "Extras 12 (b 1, lb 2, w 8, nb 1)" means 12 extra runs, made up of those types. Then comes the Total, often written like this:

Total 185/6 (20 Overs, RR: 9.25)

The new figure there is RR, the run rate, which is the average number of runs scored per over across the innings. It is a quick way to sense how fast a team scored.

The Bowling Section

The bowling section lists each bowler and how they did. A typical line looks like this:

J Archer 4 0 28 2 0 1 7.00

The columns are:

• O (4): overs bowled.
• M (0): maidens, meaning overs in which the bowler conceded no runs.
• R (28): runs conceded.
• W (2): wickets taken.
• NB (0) and WD (1): the no-balls and wides they bowled.
• Econ (7.00): economy rate.

Economy rate is the bowling equivalent of strike rate for scoring: it is the average number of runs a bowler concedes per over. A low economy rate means a bowler is hard to score off, which is a very good thing.

You will also often see a bowler's key figures written in shorthand, like "3/22" or "3 for 22." That means three wickets taken while conceding 22 runs. When it is written as a full line, "4-0-28-2," the order is overs, maidens, runs, wickets.

Fall of Wickets and Partnerships

Two extra sections add detail about how the innings unfolded.

Fall of Wickets shows the team's score at the moment each wicket fell, and when. A line like "84-3 (11.2)" means the third wicket fell with the score on 84, in the 11.2nd over (that is, the second ball of the 12th over). This is handy for spotting collapses, where several wickets fall in a short space of time.

Partnerships show how many runs two batters added together before one of them was out. A big partnership is usually the backbone of a strong total, so this section quickly tells you which pair did the damage.

Putting It Together: Who Is Winning?

Once you can read the parts, you can judge a match at a glance, especially a run chase.

In the second innings, compare the chasing team's score to the target. If the target is 186 and they are 90/2 after 10 overs, they need 96 more from the last 10 overs. That works out to a required run rate of just under 10 an over. Comparing that required rate to how fast they are actually scoring tells you whether the chase is on track or slipping away.

Put simply: watch the runs, the wickets in hand and the overs left, and you will always know which way a match is leaning. From there, every Cricket Daily match report will make complete sense.

Reading a Test Scorecard

Everything above applies neatly to the limited-overs formats, but a Test scorecard looks a little different, because a Test works differently. Each team bats twice, and there is no over limit. Here is what changes:

• Up to four innings blocks. Since each side bats twice, the card shows separate blocks labelled like "England 1st Innings" and "England 2nd Innings," rather than a single block per team.
• "All out" and "declared." A completed Test innings usually reads "England 450 all out" (bowled out) or "England 320/8 declared." A declaration, shown as "d" or "dec," is when the captain chooses to end the innings early, so those 8 wickets is where they stopped by choice, not because they were all out.
• The combined shorthand. A team's two innings are often written together, like "England 450 & 210/3." The "&" separates the first and second innings totals.
• Time as well as balls. Test batting is about survival and time at the crease, so cards may show minutes batted next to balls faced, and strike rate matters far less than it does in the shorter game.
• No overs in the headline. Instead of "(20 overs)," a Test innings simply shows how it ended, because there is no fixed over limit.

The result line also reads differently:

• "Won by an innings and 45 runs" means the winner batted just once and still finished ahead of the opponent's two innings combined, which is a heavy defeat.
• "Won by 7 wickets" or "won by 120 runs" are the usual chase and defence results.
• "Match drawn" means no winner, because a team was not bowled out twice inside the five days.
• You may also spot a note about the "follow-on," when the trailing team was made to bat again straight away.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the slash in a score like 185/6 mean?

Runs before the slash, wickets after. So 185 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

What is the difference between strike rate and economy rate?

Strike rate measures how fast a batter scores (runs per 100 balls). Economy rate measures how many runs a bowler concedes per over.

What does "c Root b Archer" mean?

The batter was caught by Root off the bowling of Archer.

What does a bowling line like 4-0-28-2 mean?

Four overs bowled, zero maidens, 28 runs conceded, and 2 wickets taken.

What is a maiden over?

An over in which the bowler concedes no runs.

How is a Test scorecard different?

A Test shows up to four innings blocks (each team bats twice), uses "all out" or "declared" instead of an overs count, and can end in a draw or a win "by an innings."

Related Guides and Series Coverage

📋 T20 Cricket Explained: Rules, Format and How It Works

📋 ODI Cricket Explained: Rules, Format and How It Works

📋 Test Cricket Explained: Rules, Format and How It Works

📋 Cricket Terms and Slang: A Glossary for New Fans