Run (cricket)

How runs are scored and teams win a match

In cricket, a run is the unit of scoring. The team with the most runs wins in many versions of the game, and always draws at worst (see result), except for some results decided by the DLS method, which is used in rain-shortened limited-overs games when the two teams have had a different number of opportunities to score runs.

One run (known as a "single") is scored when the two batters (the striker and the non-striker) start off positioned at opposite ends of the pitch (which has a length of 22 yards) and then they each arrive safely at the other end of the pitch (i.e. they cross each other without being run out).

There is no limit on the number of runs that may be scored off a single delivery, and depending on how long it takes the fielding team to recover the ball, the batters may run more than once. Each completed run, if it occurs after the striker hits the ball with the bat (or a gloved hand holding the bat), increments the scores of both the team and the striker.

A batter may also score 4 or 6 runs (without having to run) by striking the ball to the boundary.

If the ball hits the ground before hitting or passing the boundary, then four runs are scored.
If the ball passes or hits the boundary without first bouncing, then six runs are scored.

The team's total score in the innings is the aggregate of all its batters' individual scores plus any extras (runs scored regardless of whether the bat or glove hit the ball). One extra is scored each time the bowler bowls an illegal delivery to the batter, and four extras are scored if the ball reaches the boundary without having been struck by the batter.

To complete a run, both batters must make their ground, with some part of their person or bat touching the ground behind the popping crease at the other end of the pitch. Attempting a run carries a risk factor because either batter can be run out, (one method of dismissal), with the run then not being scored, if the fielding side can break one of the wickets (at either end of the pitch) with the ball before the batter near that wicket has completed the run.