Net run rate explained, with a worked example
Net run rate (NRR) separates teams level on points in almost every cricket tournament, from the World Cup to a weekend tape ball cup. Here is how it is worked out, the two rules most people get wrong, and a full example you can check by hand.
By the Manage Cricket team · Updated
Contents
The formula
Net run rate is how fast a team scores minus how fast its opponents score against it, over the whole tournament:
NRR = (total runs scored ÷ total overs faced) - (total runs conceded ÷ total overs bowled)
The totals are added up across all the team's matches first, and only then divided. NRR is not the average of each match's run rate, which is the most common mistake in hand-made points tables. A positive NRR means the team scores faster than its opponents; a negative one means it concedes faster than it scores.
Rule 1: overs are not decimals
An over has six balls, so 15.4 overs means 15 overs and 4 balls, which is 15 and four sixths, or 15.667 overs. Typing 15.4 into a calculator gives the wrong answer. The quick conversions:
| Written as | Overs for NRR |
|---|---|
| x.1 | x.167 |
| x.2 | x.333 |
| x.3 | x.5 |
| x.4 | x.667 |
| x.5 | x.833 |
Rule 2: all out counts as the full overs
When a team is bowled out before its overs are up, its NRR is worked out as if it had batted its full quota of overs. A side all out for 120 in 17.2 overs of a 20-over match is counted as 120 runs in 20 overs. The same applies the other way: if you bowl the opposition out, you are counted as having bowled the full 20 overs. Without this rule, a team could be rewarded for losing wickets quickly.
A worked example
The Strikers play three matches in a 20-over tournament:
| Match | Strikers batted | Opponents batted | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 v Hawks | 160 for 5 in 20 overs | 150 all out in 18.4 overs | Won |
| 2 v Riders | 120 all out in 17.2 overs | 121 for 3 in 15.4 overs | Lost |
| 3 v Lions | 145 for 6 in 18.3 overs | 144 for 9 in 20 overs | Won |
Runs scored: 160 + 120 + 145 = 425.
Overs faced: 20 + 20 (all out, so the full 20) + 18.5 (18.3 is 18 and a half) = 58.5.
Scoring rate: 425 ÷ 58.5 = 7.265 runs an over.
Runs conceded: 150 + 121 + 144 = 415.
Overs bowled: 20 (Hawks all out, so the full 20) + 15.667 + 20 = 55.667.
Conceding rate: 415 ÷ 55.667 = 7.455 runs an over.
NRR = 7.265 - 7.455 = -0.190.
Two wins from three, yet a negative net run rate: the heavy defeat against the Riders, who chased with more than four overs to spare, outweighs two narrow wins. And the all-out rule matters. Had the 17.2 overs been used instead of 20, the Strikers' NRR would have come out positive, at about +0.157.
What does not count
- Matches with no result are left out of NRR completely, though the points are shared.
- Super Overs never count towards NRR, even when they decide the match.
- Rain-shortened matches still count. In big leagues, when the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method decides a result, the side batting first is credited with a score worked out from the revised target or the par score, over the overs the chasing side was given. The DLS guide explains those numbers.
Where NRR comes in the tiebreak
NRR is not always the first tiebreak. The PSL and the IPL both rank teams on equal points by number of wins first, and only then by net run rate. Many club tournaments go straight from points to NRR. Manage Cricket's tournament tables sort by points, then net run rate, then wins. Whatever you choose, write the order into your tournament rules before the first ball, so nobody argues about it after the last.
How a team improves its NRR
- Win big when batting first: every run of the winning margin lifts your scoring rate and lowers the other side's.
- Chase quickly: reaching a target with overs to spare means fewer overs faced for the same runs.
- Avoid being bowled out: an all-out innings is divided by the full overs, however long it lasted.
- Bowl the opposition out: it counts as the full overs bowled, and their runs stay low.
Running a tournament? The tournament app works out the points table and NRR from the real scorecards after every match, and the points table maker builds a table from results you type in.