The Required Run Rate
Opener: Pakistan needs 60 runs to win. Only 5 overs are left. Hamza shouts: it is too much! His abu calmly says: the required run rate is only 12. Is that hard?
There is more than one way to understand this. If you have only been taught one, you have been taught less than you deserve.
There is more than one way to understand this. If you have only been taught one, you have been taught less than you deserve.
Required run rate is the run rate the chasing team must keep to win in the overs that remain. To find it, you take the runs still needed and divide by the overs still left. It uses both subtraction and division.
Way 1, in two steps: Step one, runs needed are already given: 60. Step two, divide by overs left. 60 divided by 5 equals 12. So the required run rate is 12 runs per over.
Way 2, when the target is the full target: A team chases 200. They have scored 90 in 15 overs. Total overs are 50. Runs still needed are 200 minus 90, which is 110. Overs still left are 50 minus 15, which is 35. Required run rate equals 110 divided by 35, which is about 3.14 runs per over.
Way 3, in balls instead: 5 overs equals 30 balls. 60 runs divided by 30 balls equals 2 runs per ball needed. That sounds different but is the same: 2 runs per ball times 6 balls per over equals 12 runs per over.
Estimated time: 12 min