Sport Scoring SolutionsIndoor cricket scoring: the rules and a free scorer
Indoor cricket is played in netted arenas all over South Africa, and its scoring is different from the outdoor game. Batters bat in pairs, every hit into the nets can earn bonus runs, and getting out costs the team runs instead of ending the innings. Our free indoor cricket scorer handles the pairs, the skins and the strike ball for you, and works out player stats and the man of the match at the end.
Open the indoor cricket scorer
Watch: what is indoor cricket?
Teams, overs and batting pairs
- Teams have up to 8 players (at least 6), and every player bats and bowls.
- An innings is 16 six-ball overs. The batting team bats in 4 pairs, and each pair bats for 4 overs.
- A batter who is out keeps batting until the pair's overs are finished. The team simply loses runs for each dismissal.
- Each player normally bowls 2 overs, and nobody may bowl two overs in a row. All bowling is from one end, and the batters change ends after every over.
- Centres often play shorter games when time is tight: 12 overs (pairs bat 3 overs each) or 8 overs (2 overs each).
How runs are scored
Batters score physical runs by running between the creases, as in normal cricket. When the ball hits the nets, they also earn bonus runs, but only if they complete at least one physical run.
| Net zone | Bonus runs |
|---|---|
| A – front net behind the keeper | 0 |
| B – side nets, nearer the batter | 1 |
| C – side nets, nearer the back net | 2 |
| B or C, then onto D | 3 |
| D – back net, on the bounce | 4 |
| D – back net, on the full | 6 |
The first zone the ball hits counts. A hit into D on the bounce with 1 run completed is worth 5 runs (1 + 4).
Dismissals cost runs
Each time a batter is out, the batting team loses 5 runs, and any runs off that ball do not count. Some centres use 3 runs instead, which you can choose in the app. A team's score can therefore go below zero.
The usual ways to be out are bowled, caught, stumped, run out, LBW, hit wicket and the mankad. A catch off the back net on the full is not out.
Wides, no-balls and the final over
- A wide or no ball gives the batting team 2 runs, plus any runs the batters make off it.
- In most overs these balls still count as one of the six. There is no rebowl.
- In the final over of each batting pair, the batters may have wides and no-balls rebowled. The app asks each time. It caps the over at 12 balls by default; you can change that cap when you set up the match.
The strike ball (2nd or 3rd ball rule)
Batters may not block ball after ball. Under the 2nd ball rule, once a delivery passes without the score changing, the umpire calls "strike" and the batter must score off the next ball or be given out. Many centres use the 3rd ball version, which allows two scoreless balls before the call. Any change to the score, or a dismissal, resets the count, and it starts again for each new pair.
The scorer counts the scoreless balls, shows a red STRIKE warning, and asks whether the striker is out if the strike ball does not score.
Skins
Each batting pair's score is a skin. Pair 1 of one team is compared with pair 1 of the other, and so on, and the higher partnership wins that skin. A tied skin carries over to the next pair; if the last skin is tied, it goes to the winner of the skin before it. Leagues usually award match points for the win plus a point per skin won. The app shows the skins live and on the spectator scoreboard.
Player stats and man of the match
Because the app knows who faced and who bowled every ball, it keeps each player's runs, balls faced and dismissals, and their overs, wickets, runs conceded, wides and no-balls. It also tracks catches, stumpings and run outs when you name the fielder.
The man of the match is the player with the highest contribution, measured against the match average:
- Batting: their runs, less the runs lost to their dismissals, compared with the average for the number of balls they faced.
- Bowling: how many runs they saved compared with the average for the balls they bowled. Wickets count here because each one takes runs off the batting team.
- Fielding: 2 for each catch, stumping or run out.
How to use the indoor cricket scorer
- Enter the team names, who bats first and the match length (16, 12 or 8 overs). Choose the dismissal penalty and the strike rule your centre uses.
- When a pair comes in, add the two batters by name, shirt number or both. The first one picked takes strike. In the second innings, the players who bowled are offered again, so you only enter each name once.
- Before each over, tap the bowler or add a new one. The previous over's bowler cannot be picked.
- For each ball, first tap any extra (wide or no ball) and net zone, then tap the runs the batters ran. That records the ball. Use Out for dismissals.
- If the umpire shortens the game, use Skip overs. Every pair in both innings is cut to the same number of overs, so the skins stay fair.
- Open the Scoreboard link at the top to show the score and skins on a second screen. The result, stats and man of the match are saved under My results.
These notes summarise the World Indoor Cricket Federation rules and the Action Cricket rules used in South Africa. Centres vary on dismissal runs, the strike ball and penalties, so check your centre's rules. Misconduct penalties can be added with Penalty runs.