How Does Cricket Scoring Work? Explained [Rules, Sheets]

The cricket scoring system is the system that defines the game. It is the system that ultimately decides the winner and loser of the game.

Suppose at the end of an innings, a score reads like this – ‘India 325/7, 50 overs’, it means that India has scored 325 runs with the loss of 7 wickets at the end of 50 overs. How does a team reach such a score? Which parameters or ingredients lead up to such a figure? Or simply, how does the cricket scoring system work? Everything is here as follows-

What are the factors involved in the cricket scoring system?

1. Running between the wickets

This is a crucial part of the cricket scoring system as it keeps the scoreboard ticking. When a batsman plays a shot, he and his partner can start running between the wickets if they feel like there is a run available. If both the batsman successfully reaches the other end of their respective crease, then a run is said to be completed. There is no limit to the number of times the 2 batsmen can run between the wickets, it can be 2 times, 3 times, or even more if possible.

2. Boundaries

Boundaries are those shots that reach or cross the ropes of the boundary line. If the batsman plays a grounded shot and it goes all the way and touches the boundary line or boundary cushion then it’s a ‘Four’. Also, if the batsman hits a shot in the air and the ball makes contact with the ground at least once before it reaches the boundary line, then to that is a ‘Four’ as four runs are added to the batting team’s total.

If the batsman plays a lofted shot and hits the ball in the air and the ball crosses the boundary line without making any contact with the field within the boundary line, then that is considered a ‘Six’. Even if the ball hits the boundary line, then also it is considered as a ‘Six’, and six runs are added to the team total.

3. Extras

Extras are those runs that are added to the batting team’s total but the runs don’t come off the batsman’s bat. These runs are added to the total either due to a mistake committed by the bowler, fielder, or by luck, or a combination of all. Extras include – wide ball, no ball, leg-byes, wide plus four runs, overthrows, and so on.

4. Penalty runs

Penalty runs are runs that are deducted from a team’s total or added to the opposition team’s total if a team plays the game unfairly like a batsman deliberately tries to take a short run in order to ‘steal a run’ or wastes time or break any rule or law of the game. The number of penalty runs is decided by the umpires and the match referee depending on the depth of the offense.

5. Wickets

Wickets are when the bowler gets the better of the batsman and gets him out or dismissed and the batsman returns back to the pavilion. Bowled, caught, lbw, runout, and played-out are the ways of a batsman’s dismissal or simply, a wicket.

6. Overs

Six legitimate deliveries by the bowler constitute an over, meaning ‘extras’ committed by the bowler like wide, no ball, etc aren’t considered a legal delivery. So six proper deliveries make up an over. In Test cricket, a maximum of 90 overs are bowled in a day, in ODI cricket, a maximum of 50 overs are bowled in an innings, and in a T20I match, 20 overs are bowled in an innings at maximum. A team cannot bat anymore if all the assigned overs have been bowled.

Also, if the batting team gets all out, that is loses all 10 wickets, before the stipulated overs get met, then also the innings will come to an end.

One more point which can dictate the cricket scoring system score is the D/L method, that is Duckworth Lewis Method which is a calculation made to give a revised target for the chasing team or a revised format of a match itself if a considerable amount of time is lost in the game due to rain.

So, taking all the above 6 things into consideration, the net result one gets is the team score, and in the end, the team who has the higher score wins.

This is how the cricket scoring system works.

Since, Fours, Sixes, and Wickets are 3 key ingredients in the cricket scoring system, here are the top 10 cricketers with the most fours, sixes, and wickets in the international arena –

A. Most Fours in International Cricket

Sl. No.	Player	Country	Span	Total Matches	Total Innings	Total Fours
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	1989 – 2013	664	782	4076
2	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	2000 – 2015	594	666	3015
3	Ricky Ponting	Australia	1995 – 2012	560	668	2781
4	Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	1997 – 2015	652	725	2679
5	Rahul Dravid	India	1996 – 2012	509	605	2604
6	Brian Lara	West Indies	1990 – 2007	430	521	2601
7	Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	1989 – 2011	586	651	2486
8	Jacques Kallis	South Africa	1995 – 2014	519	617	2455
9	Virender Sehwag	India	1999 – 2013	374	443	2408
10	Virat Kohli	India	2008 – Present	458	511	2355

b. Most sixes in international cricket

Sl. No.	Name	Country	Span	Total Matches	Total Innings	Total Sixes
1	Chris Gayle	West Indies	1999-2021	483	551	553
2	Shahid Afridi	Pakistan	1996-2018	524	508	476
3	Rohit Sharma	India	2007-Present	400	417	464
4	Brendon McCullum	New Zealand	2002-2016	432	474	398
5	Martin Guptill	New Zealand	2009-Present	348	383	371
6	MS Dhoni	India	2004-2019	538	526	359
7	Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	1989-2011	586	651	352
8	Eoin Morgan	England	2006-Present	377	359	346
9	AB de Villiers	Ireland, South Africa	2004-2018	420	484	328
10	Ross Taylor	New Zealand	2006-2022	450	510	273

c. Most wickets in international cricket

Sl. No.	Player	Country	Span	Total Matches	Total Innings	Total Wickets
1	Muttiah Muralitharan	Sri Lanka	1992 – 2011	495	583	1347
2	Shane Warne	Australia	1992 – 2007	339	464	1001
3	Anil Kumble	India	1990 – 2008	403	501	956
4	Glenn McGrath	Australia	1993 – 2007	376	493	949
5	James Anderson	England	2002 – Present	384	528	938
6	Wasim Akram	Pakistan	1984 – 2003	460	532	916
7	Shaun Pollock	South Africa	1995 – 2008	423	510	829
8	Stuart Broad	England	2006 – Present	332	462	792
9	Waqar Younis	Pakistan	1989 – 2003	349	412	789
10	Chaminda Vaas	Sri Lanka	1994 – 2009	439	520	761