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Cricket: rules, formats and the right sources
A cricket scorecard tells you more when its labels are read together. Use this guide to distinguish runs, wickets, overs and a match format, then consult the governing laws and playing conditions for the rule in question.
Read runs, wickets and overs together
A team's score can show runs alongside wickets lost. The overs figure describes progress through the innings rather than another run total. For example, an overs notation ending in .3 represents three legal deliveries into an over, not a decimal fraction of the match. Extras and deliveries that do not count as legal balls can explain why a simple ball count differs from what you expected.
Identify the format and the stage
A Test match, a one-day match and a T20 match have different structures and playing conditions. Before interpreting a required run rate or a remaining-overs graphic, check the format, innings and competition. Rain, revised targets or a shortened match can change the context, so a stale score image should not be treated as a current match record.
Use primary rules for a disputed point
The MCC Laws of Cricket provide the fundamental laws. The ICC publishes playing conditions for its international formats. Competition-specific documents can add the operational detail needed for a particular tournament. Check the edition and format rather than relying on an undated social-media explanation of a dismissal or target calculation.
Keep sports information separate from app claims
An app can display statistics, commentary or a social feature without being the competition organiser. Confirm the publisher and what the current product actually offers. This page is a reading guide for cricket information in India; it does not supply live scores, forecast results or promise a prize for following a selection.
Read the decimal-looking over notation correctly
In a scorecard example, 18.3 overs means eighteen completed overs plus three legal deliveries in the current over; it is not eighteen and three-tenths overs. Read the innings and match format alongside that notation. This is a reading example, not a live match score or a player-selection recommendation.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
Sources and context
- MCC — The Laws of Cricket Reference check: 2026-10-30
- ICC — Playing conditions Reference check: 2026-10-30
The date records a reference check. It is not a live service monitor.
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