A cricket match record has separate fields for the teams, competition, innings and match status. These fields give meaning to the number shown beside each team. Cricket scorecards must be read with the format attached. Test matches can have two innings per side, ODIs normally allow 50 overs per innings and T20s normally allow 20. Rain or competition rules can alter the available play.
Runs, wickets and the innings
A score written as 147/4 means 147 team runs with four wickets lost. It does not mean that the side has four players remaining. In a standard eleven-player side, ten wickets normally complete an innings because one batter is left without a partner. A star beside a batter’s score indicates that the batter has not been dismissed.
The team total combines runs credited to batters with extras. Add the batting scores and the extras line when reconciling a card. A fall-of-wickets entry pairs a team total with the wicket number and usually an over, helping reconstruct when the innings changed.
Use the innings heading before comparing totals. Two cards headed first innings and second innings must not be added or compared as if they were separate matches. A target banner belongs to the chase; a lead or trail banner compares innings totals in a multi-innings contest.
This is an evergreen explanation of how to read cricket match information. It does not report today’s live score, team announcement or winner; those require a dated match record or live feed.