As the Indian Premier League (IPL) enters the final stages of its league phase, the point table is bound to get messy.
Teams will have their calculators out, crunching numbers and worrying about their playoff qualification - where every win, every ball, and every little run could make all the difference!
It could have been very simple: the team with the most wins or most points is ranked higher and qualifies for the next stage. But in a highly competitive league, complications are expected - what if teams finish on equal points and win the same matches? Now, how do you rank the teams?
If this were a street league, it could have been decided with the toss of a coin or a method that does not guarantee complete fairness.
But with crores of money, reputation, and technology invested, there was a need for a better alternative. That is where Net Run Rate (NRR) comes into play!
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If you've ever wondered why your team slips down the rankings or, to your surprise, rises in the rankings without even playing a match, it is very likely because of NRR, which takes into account every minute detail.
The Sporting News takes you through what a Net Run Rate is, how it is calculated, exceptions, and what happens if it is also tied at the end of the IPL league stages.
What is Net Run Rate (NRR) in Cricket?
Net Run Rate (NRR) is a statistical metric that is useful in effectively separating two teams in a league table that are tied on points. It measures the difference between a team's run-scoring rate and the rate at which they concede runs.
It is similar to 'Goal Difference' in football, which considers the difference between 'Goals For' (goals scored by the team) and 'Goals Against' (goals conceded by the team), but in cricket, it is the difference between run rates of scoring and conceding.
It doesn't just take into account each team's wins, losses, but their overall performance during the season. And because of its fairness and reliability, it is now employed in most cricket tournaments around the world as a go-to tie-breaker option.
How is Net Run Rate (NRR) calculated in IPL?
The formula to calculate Net Run Rate is simple:
NRR = (Total runs scored by team / Total overs faced by team) - (Total runs conceded or scored against team / Total overs bowled by team)
As mentioned earlier, it is the difference between the run-scoring rate and the run-conceding rate of a team. However, here are a few points to remember during these calculations:
- If a team chases a target successfully and wins, only the actual number of overs is counted.
- But if a team is bowled out, the full quota of 20 overs is taken for NRR calculations.
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Here's an example of an IPL 2025 match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which was played on April 3 at Eden Gardens.
The scores read: KKR 200/6 in 20 overs and SRH 120/10 in 16.4 overs.
Here's how KKR's NRR is calculated for this particular match: (200/20) - (120/20) = 4.00
Now, even though SRH faced just 16.4 overs, the full quota of 20 overs was considered during the calculation because they were bowled out.
However, if they had chased down the total in 19.1 overs, the calculation of 19.1 would have been used, not 20.
MORE: IPL 2025: 'Master of the chase' Virat Kohli explains his playbook while chasing targets
How is NRR calculated for the entire IPL season?
To determine NRR across the whole tournament, it uses the same formula mentioned above, but considers all the matches that the team has played in the entire season.
The total runs scored, total runs conceded are taken for each of the matches, while the total overs bowled and total overs faced are adjusted and depend on whether they were all-out in any match or chased down totals with overs to spare.
Let's take the case of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025. As of April 29, 2025, this is how their position on the points table look:
| Rank | Played | Won | Lost | Draw/NR | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | -1.302 |
Their NRR stands at a poor -1.302 as they have scored 1440 runs, facing a total of 178.4 overs, but have conceded 1540 runs in just 164.3 overs.
CSK have been bowled out once in the tournament (vs SRH, in 19.5 overs) and have chased down targets twice (vs MI - in 19.1, vs LSG - in 19.3 overs).
The 19.5 against SRH was therefore considered as 20 overs while the 19.1 and 19.3 against MI, LSG were kept the same.
MORE: MS Dhoni snaps after CSK loss to SRH: ‘You can’t just keep playing like this’
What happens in an IPL season if the Net Run Rate (NRR) of two teams is same - how is the tie-breaker decided?
The decision for NRR comes into play if the points and number of wins are the same.
Here is how the league position will be decided if two or more teams have the same NRR:
- If teams have equal points and the same wins, the team with a higher NRR will be placed higher.
- In case teams have equal points, same wins, and the same NRR, the team with the highest number of wickets will be preferred.
- If teams have the same wickets as well, their league position will finally be determined by drawing lots.
The above is based on IPL's playing conditions and regulations, law 16.10 titled 'The League Table'. Therefore, this is how a tie-breaker is decided in India's T20 league.
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