Required Run Rate Calculator

Required Run Rate Formula

Runs needed = max(0, target − current score); required run rate = runs needed × 6 / legal balls remaining

Use the Target to Win

Enter the final score the chasing team must reach. In a normal chase against 180, that target is 181. Entering 180 would calculate the rate needed to tie. If the officials have revised the target after an interruption, use that announced target. The calculator does not obtain or estimate it.

Choose Overs or Legal Balls

The bowling remaining can be entered as cricket notation or a whole legal-ball count. Seven overs and two balls remaining is 7.2, equivalent to 44 balls. Do not treat the decimal point as a base-ten fraction. The field’s adjacent selector identifies which type of number you are entering.

Worked Example

A team chasing 181 has scored 120 and has 7.2 overs remaining. It needs 61 more runs from 44 legal balls. The required rate is 61 × 6 / 44 = 8.318181, displayed as 8.32 runs per over. The same demand is 61 / 44 = 1.386364 runs per ball, displayed as 1.39.

How the Rate Changes

Each scoring event changes the numerator, while each legal delivery changes the remaining-ball count. If the team makes 10 runs from the next six legal balls in the example, it needs 51 from 38 balls, or 8.05 runs per over. A rate can fall even while overs run out, provided scoring is ahead of the previous requirement.

When the Target Has Been Reached

If the current score is equal to or above the target, the primary result says Target reached and the remaining run requirement is zero. This remains true if zero balls are entered. When runs remain but the ball allocation is zero, there is no finite required rate, so the result reports No legal balls left.

Required Rate Versus Current Rate

Required rate describes the future scoring demand. Current run rate describes runs already scored per over already faced. They answer different questions. A team can have a high current rate and still require a higher future rate when chasing a large target. Neither measure accounts for the quality of remaining batters or the bowling attack.

Use the Displayed Precision Carefully

The primary answer is rounded to two decimal places for readability. It is not an exact run schedule for each over. The exact whole-run requirement and ball count remain in the supporting results. Scorecards may show a slightly different display if their timing, target, or remaining-ball count differs.

Assumptions and Limits

Use this tool while the chase remains active. It does not check wickets, penalties, match eligibility, or whether further play is allowed. Inputs are whole runs and standard six-ball overs. It gives arithmetic requirements, not a probability of winning or a recommended batting strategy.

Reference Table

Sources

MCC, Laws of Cricket, Laws 16 and 17, The Result and The Over. ICC, Men’s T20 World Cup Playing Conditions, 2026, clause 16.4.