Required run rate

The required run rate is the number of runs per over the chasing side needs from the remaining overs to win.

It is runs still required divided by overs left. A team needing 60 from 5 overs has a required rate of 12.00. It changes after every ball: a boundary lowers it, a dot ball raises it, and a wicket does not change it at all, which is why chasing sides can lose wickets and still look fine on the scoreboard right up until they run out of batters.

Reading the required rate well is the whole art of the chase. Early on, a rate that is a run or two above the current run rate is nothing to panic about, because the death overs will be scored at a much faster clip. A required rate of 12 with six wickets in hand is a normal finish; the same rate with two wickets left is a lost cause. Good chasing sides pick a target for each phase and check themselves against it, rather than reacting to the number after every ball. The number is also what the DLS par score is built around when rain is about.

In Masterstroke: the batters read the chase equation themselves, so a finisher told to attack with the rate climbing will pick the bowler he wants to go after.