What is Over Rate in Cricket? – Explained

Cricket is not a mere bat-and-ball game. A lot of technicalities and rules are associated with the sport.

I mean, no sport is played without a rule book. Of course, they help streamline the game. And cricket is no different, as MCC’s laws govern the sport.

One of the laws that takes centre stage in every cricket match is the over-rate rule. It’s an essential rule that every team needs to abide by. If they don’t, then they will have to shell out heavy fines.

But what exactly is an over rate in cricket?

In simple words, it’s the average number of overs a bowling side delivers in an hour. And cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), has set a minimum over rate.

As per the rule, teams need to bowl a certain amount of overs in an over. While they do get some allowances, failing to maintain the minimum over rate can attract fines.

So what’s the minimum over rate in cricket matches?

The minimum over rate varies across three international formats. And other circumstances also factor in while calculating the over rate.

Over Rate in Test Cricket

For instance, the bowling team needs to deliver a minimum of 15 overs per hour in a Test match. And since a day has six hours of playtime, a minimum of 90 overs have to be bowled.

While they get an extra half an hour extension and other time allowances, teams shouldn’t bowl less than 14 overs per hour.

Over Rate in ODIs and T20Is

In ODIs, the minimum rate is around this figure. The bowling side needs to send down at least 14.28 overs per hour. As for T20Is, the average number of overs per hour comes to 14.11.

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What are the time allowances?

When umpires calculate the over rate after the match, they don’t count the time lost for the following instances:

a. Players getting treatment on the field

b. Injured player leaving the field

c. All umpire or player reviews

d. Batting side wasting time

e. Other unavoidable circumstances

f. Two minutes after every wicket (except the last one or if it falls near an interval)

g. Drink break: Four minutes for Test, Two minutes and 30 seconds for ODIs and T20Is 

What if teams fail to maintain the over rate after all the allowances?

If a team fails to bowl one or more overs in the allotted time, it will result in a slow over rate. And the match referee will impose a financial penalty on all players of the offending team.

While the fine will be imposed after the match, ODIs and T20Is have in-match penalties as well. If a team fails to complete the required overs in the allotted time, they will have to bring one fielder inside the circle. So they will be left with only four fielders outside the circle for the remainder of the match.

For the Test matches played in the World Test Championship (WTC), teams also stand to lose WTC points.

But in Tests, a bowling team won’t incur a penalty if they bowl out the batting team twice in 160 or fewer overs, irrespective of the minimum overs bowled. Also, if a bowling side bowls out the batting team in 80 or fewer overs in an innings, the over rate won’t be counted if it’s below the minimum threshold.

What’s the penalty for slow over rate?

For every over short in the allotted time, players will have to pay five per cent of their match fees as a penalty. In WTC, teams will also lose a point for every over short.

Interestingly, players stand to lose only 50 per cent of their match fees. Earlier, there was no cap on the penalty amount.

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