Match maths
Run Rate Calculator
Work out the current run rate from runs scored and overs faced, with over notation handled properly.
Overs and balls, so 34.4 means 34 overs and 4 balls.
Run rate
5.39
runs per over
Balls faced
208
Runs per ball
0.899
Beyond the calculator
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How this was worked out
- 1Convert overs to balls34.4 overs = 208 balls
- 2Divide runs by overs187 / 34.6667 = 5.39
How the number is worked out
The formula
Run rate = runs scored / overs faced- runs scored
- Every run on the board, including extras.
- overs faced
- Converted to balls first. 34.4 overs is 208 balls, which is 34.667 overs, not 34.4.
Run rate is always expressed per over, never per ball, which is why the conversion matters. A rate of 5.39 means the side is scoring at 5.39 runs for every six legal balls.
A worked example: mid innings
A side is 187 for 4 after 34.4 overs in a 50 over match.
The figure a scoreboard shows is the current run rate, and it is the number every captain checks first.
- 1Convert the overs to balls34 overs and 4 balls = (34 x 6) + 4 = 208 balls
- 2Convert balls back to decimal overs208 / 6 = 34.6667 overs
- 3Divide runs by overs187 / 34.6667 = 5.39
The run rate is 5.39. Dividing 187 by 34.4 instead would give 5.44, which is wrong by enough to change a captain's decision at the death.
Rules and edge cases
The situations that change the answer, and the ones most calculators get wrong.
Overs notation is not a decimal
34.4 means 34 overs and 4 balls. Because there are six balls in an over, that is 34.667 in decimal, not 34.4. Every rate on this page converts to balls first. This is the single most common error in cricket arithmetic and it is why two people watching the same match sometimes quote different run rates.
Extras count towards the run rate
Wides, no balls, byes and leg byes are all runs on the board, so they all count. They do not count towards any individual batter's runs, which is why a team's run rate and the sum of its batters' strike rates never quite line up.
A wide adds a run without adding a ball
Wides and no balls are not legal deliveries, so they raise the run rate twice over: the run goes on the board and the ball has to be bowled again. An over that goes for five wides costs more than five runs in rate terms.
Run rate on its own says nothing about wickets
A side 187 for 1 and a side 187 for 8 have the same run rate and completely different positions. Rate is a pace measure, not a position measure. For a chase, read it alongside the required rate and wickets in hand.
Frequently asked questions
Divide the runs scored by the overs faced. The one thing to get right is the overs: convert them to balls first, because 34.4 overs is 34.667 in decimal, not 34.4.
For scorers and clubs
Every rate on this page, live, while the match is happening
Score ball by ball on a phone and the run rate, the required rate and the projection update for everyone following, without anyone doing arithmetic at the boundary.
See match scoringLast reviewed 17 August 2026. Playing conditions change, so if your competition uses a different rule, its regulations take precedence over anything here.