GlossaryCricket
What is net run rate (NRR)?
Net run rate is cricket's main league tie-breaker: a team's runs scored per over minus the runs it concedes per over, across the tournament.
NRR rewards winning by big margins — scoring quickly and restricting the opposition. A higher NRR ranks higher when teams are level on points. It's calculated over a whole competition, not a single match, and can be negative if a team is generally outscored per over.
Worked example: Score 1,600 runs off 200 overs (8.0 per over) and concede 1,500 off 200 (7.5 per over) → NRR of +0.50.
See it in the numbers
Open the spreadsheet and watch this appear in live scores and standings — disguised as work.
Related terms
How to read a cricket scorecard
A cricket score like '248/4 (35.2)' means 248 runs for the loss of 4 wickets, scored in 35.2 overs — so 6 wickets are still standing.
Run rate & required run rate
Run rate is runs scored per over; the required run rate is how many runs per over the chasing team still needs to win.
What is an over?
An over is a set of six legal deliveries bowled from one end; '35.2 overs' means 35 complete overs plus 2 balls of the next.
Strike rate (batting)
A batter's strike rate is runs scored per 100 balls faced — a measure of scoring speed that matters most in the shorter formats.