Building a cricket points table, and breaking ties
How a cricket points table is worked out from scores — wins, ties and no-results, the order that separates teams level on points, and how to type matches into the tool.
Last reviewed · 1,336 words
In short
- A points table needs only the scores: who won, and each side's runs and overs, from which points and net run rate follow.
- Two points for a win and one each for a tie or no-result is the common scheme, but the tool lets you change all three.
- Teams level on points are ranked on net run rate, which is why every score needs its overs, not just its runs.
- A bowled-out side is charged with the full quota of overs, so write the wickets as 10 and the tool applies it.
- Rules for breaking ties differ between tournaments, so check yours before treating any order as final.
A points table is the page every player checks first after a match. For a school, college, office or street tournament it is also the page nobody has time to keep, because working out the order properly means net run rate for every team, redone after every game. This page explains how the table is built, what a team's row means, and how to enter your matches in the tool above so that it does the arithmetic.
What a row in the table means
Every team has the same columns, and each is a count from the match results:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| P | Matches played |
| W | Matches won |
| L | Matches lost |
| T | Matches tied |
| NR | Matches with no result |
| Pts | Points from the scheme below |
| NRR | Net run rate over the whole tournament so far |
A match won adds to W for the winner and L for the loser. A tie adds to T for both. An abandoned match adds to NR for both. Matches played is the sum of the four, so it is a useful check: for a team that has played three matches, W + L + T + NR must be 3.
The points scheme
The most common arrangement in cricket is two points for a win, one point each for a tie or a no-result, and nothing for a loss. That is the default in the tool. Some leagues give more for a win, or give a bonus point for winning by a large margin, or nothing for an abandoned match, so the three fields above the table let you set the points for a win, a tie and a no-result separately. Whatever you choose is applied to every team in the same way, so the order only changes if your scheme really rewards something differently.
Check the arithmetic once with a small example. A team that has won 3 matches, tied 1, lost 2 and had 1 abandoned has played 7 matches and has 3 × 2 + 1 × 1 + 0 + 1 × 1 = 8 points.
Ranking teams on the same points
Many teams will be level on points, especially in a short league, so the table needs an order for them. The tool uses the most widely used one:
- Points, highest first.
- Net run rate, highest first.
- Wins, highest first.
- Name, alphabetically, only so that the order stays the same each time you open the page.
Net run rate is the usual first tiebreaker in limited-overs cricket. It is the team's runs per over while batting minus the runs per over it conceded, taken over every match in the tournament, with the full quota of overs charged for any innings in which a side was bowled out. The Net Run Rate Calculator explains the formula in detail, and the table above applies the same rules.
Not every competition uses this order. Some check the result between the two teams concerned first, or the number of wins before net run rate, or use a draw of lots in the end. If the order of two teams matters, because one of them goes through, read your tournament's rules before treating the tool's order as final.
How to type the matches
Each match is one line, with commas between the parts:
Team, runs/wickets, overs, Team, runs/wickets, overs
For example, Mumbai, 180/6, 20, Chennai, 175/8, 20 means that Mumbai scored 180 for 6 in 20 overs and Chennai scored 175 for 8 in 20 overs. Some points to get right:
- Overs are written the cricket way. 17.3 is 17 overs and 3 balls, so the number after the point can only be 0 to 5.
- Ten wickets means all out.
150/10, 18.2tells the tool that the side was bowled out, so it is charged with the full quota of overs, 20 in a T20 for example. If you give only the runs, as in150, 18.2, the overs are used as they are, which is right for a side that was not bowled out, such as one that won by chasing the target. - The winner is the side with more runs. Equal runs is a tie. For a match decided by something else, such as a rain-affected result, enter the revised target and overs that your tournament uses.
- An abandoned match is a short line with three parts,
Delhi, Chennai, nr, and gives each team the points for a no-result without touching net run rate. - Team names are matched without regard to capitals, so
MUMBAIandMumbaiare one team.
Choose the overs per innings above the table, so that an all-out side is charged with the right quota. If a line is wrong, the tool lists its number under the result and leaves it out; the rest of the table still works.
A worked example
Here are five matches, as entered in the tool by default:
| Match | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mumbai 180/6 (20) beat Chennai 175/8 (20) |
| 2 | Kolkata 151/4 (17.3) beat Delhi 150/10 (18.2, all out) |
| 3 | Delhi 143/3 (19.1) beat Mumbai 142/9 (20) |
| 4 | Chennai 165/5 (20) beat Kolkata 120/10 (17.4, all out) |
| 5 | Delhi v Chennai, no result |
Delhi were all out in match 2, so their 150 is counted as scored in 20 overs, and Kolkata's 120 in match 4 is also charged as 20. The table that follows:
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chennai | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | +1.000 |
| 2 | Delhi | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | −0.332 |
| 3 | Mumbai | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −0.069 |
| 4 | Kolkata | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −0.648 |
Chennai and Delhi have 3 points each, so net run rate separates them. Chennai scored 340 runs in 40 overs, 8.500 an over, and conceded 300 in 40 overs, 7.500, which is +1.000. Delhi's rate comes out at 7.481 scored (293 runs in 39.17 overs) against 7.813 conceded (293 in 37.5 overs), so −0.332. Mumbai and Kolkata are level on 2 points, and Mumbai's −0.069 puts them above Kolkata's −0.648.
Notice that the washed-out match left Chennai and Delhi with a point each and with no effect on their net run rate. Note also that all four teams have one win and one loss in matches that finished, so without net run rate there would be nothing to rank them on beyond the single point from the abandoned match.
Common mistakes
- Averaging the matches' NRR. The tournament figure comes from total runs and total overs, never from the mean of the matches' individual figures. The two can even differ in sign.
- Writing overs as decimals. Typing 17.3 into a spreadsheet and dividing by it gives a slightly wrong rate. Use balls, or use the tool.
- Forgetting the all-out rule. This is the commonest source of a table that does not match the official one.
- Counting abandoned matches in NRR. They add points, but their runs and overs are ignored.
- Spelling a team differently. The tool ignores capitals but not typos, so
MumbaiandMumbiare different teams, and you will notice because the table has one team too many.
Making the fixtures
If you are running the whole competition, the Fixture Generator makes the round-by-round list in which every team plays every other, and you can paste the results back here as the games are played. For a quick check of the arithmetic behind any figure, the Percentage Calculator and the Average Calculator do the sums.
What this tool assumes
- Scores and overs come from the scorecard, and every match is between two teams.
- Wickets of 10 or more mean all out; anything less, or no wickets, does not.
- Points for a win, tie and no-result are the same for every team.
- Ties on points, net run rate and wins are ordered by name, and the tool does not know your tournament's special rules.
- The table is worked out in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere or saved.