What do I need to know to score senior (adult) club cricket in the Central Gauteng Lions leagues? Wides, no balls and free hits, penalty runs, reduced overs, calculated targets, slow over-rate runs, points and the result card.
Under the CGL 2025/26 playing conditions and By-laws:
Captains are also expected to keep checking the runs, wickets and overs you record during the match.
Wides (CGL 2025/26 playing conditions): a 1-run penalty, plus any runs the batters complete or that are awarded, all scored as wides and charged to the bowler. A wide doesn't count as one of the over's six balls. In limited-overs matches, umpires apply a strict interpretation: anything passing leg side of the batter's legs is wide, and so is a fast short ball over the batter's head (time cricket also counts the over-the-head ball as wide).
No balls (Law 21, 2022 edition): a 1-run penalty, charged to the bowler. Runs off the bat go to the batter. Byes or leg byes run off a no ball are recorded as no-ball extras. A no ball doesn't count as one of the over's six balls. CGL conditions add no balls for:
Free hits: in 50, 35 and 20-over matches with official CGL umpires, the ball after any no ball is a free hit (shown by the umpire circling a raised arm). Score it normally. The striker can only be out in the ways possible off a no ball. If the free hit is itself a no ball or wide, the next ball is also a free hit. Time cricket has no free hits.
Penalty runs are extras credited to the team, not to a batter or against a bowler, and the umpire signals them to you. Under the CGL 2025/26 playing conditions, 5-run penalties are most often awarded for:
To the batting side (added to the current innings):
To the fielding side:
Penalty runs awarded to the fielding side are added to that team's own innings: its most recent completed innings if it has batted, otherwise its next innings.
Slow over-rate penalty runs in 35-over matches are different: they are added to the batting side's total at the end of the innings, at 10 runs, or the run rate if higher, for each over not bowled.
Both are set out in every CGL 2025/26 playing conditions document, following the 2022 Laws:
After a catch (Law 18.11): the new batter takes strike, even if the batters crossed or the dismissed batter wasn't at the striker's end, unless it was the last ball of the over. No runs count from the ball on which a catch is taken.
Non-striker backing up too far (Law 38.3): if the non-striker is out of their ground from when the ball comes into play until the bowler would normally have released it, the bowler may try to run them out. That's a run out if successful, credited as a run out rather than to the bowler. Whether or not it succeeds, the ball doesn't count as one of the over. If it fails, the umpire calls dead ball.
When the CGL office has said the match uses average run rate (confirmed at the toss), the 2025/26 limited-overs conditions work like this:
Interruption during the first innings: overs are revised so both teams get the same number. The target is the first team's total + 1, and equal scores are a tie.
Second innings reduced: multiply the first team's run rate by the overs available to the team batting second.
Worked examples (50-over match reduced to 35 overs for the second innings):
| First innings | Run rate | × 35 overs | Target | Tie on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 251 in 50 overs | 5.02 | 175.7 | 176 | Not possible |
| 250 in 50 overs | 5.00 | 175 | 176 | 175 |
Record a win as, for example, "Team B won by 3 wickets (calculated result)".
Match abandoned during the second innings (after the minimum overs: 20 in 50-over, 15 in 35-over, 5 in 20-over matches): the team with the higher average run rate wins. Equal run rates are a tie.
Overs lost to time: overs are cut at 15 an hour in 50-over and 35-over matches and 14.12 an hour in 20-over matches. Fractions of an over are ignored.
In CGL limited-overs matches, the CGL office says before the match whether interrupted matches are decided by average run rate or by Duckworth/Lewis/Stern (DLS), and the umpires confirm it with both captains at the toss. The 35-over conditions give the Ladies Premier League as a competition that uses DLS. (2025/26 playing conditions.)
Under DLS:
What you need for the calculation: the first team's score, wickets and overs, the overs available to the second team, and the original overs per side. In 35-over matches, include any slow over-rate penalty runs in the first team's score and the penalty overs in its overs (for example 112 + 20 penalty runs = 132, and 22.2 + 2 = 24.2 overs).
Minimum overs to the team batting second for a result: 20 in 50-over matches, 15 in 35-over matches and 5 in 20-over matches, unless a result has already been reached.
In CGL 35-over matches (2025/26 playing conditions), an innings ends when the scheduled time is reached. The over in progress is finished, with no penalty for that over. For every over not bowled by then, the batting side gets penalty runs equal to the greater of:
Worked examples from the conditions:
| Innings | Overs bowled by the cut-off | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| First innings 252/6 | 32 (3 short) | 10 × 3 = 30 beats 7 × 3 = 21, so +30 → 282 |
| First innings 388/3 | 32 (3 short) | 12 × 3 = 36 beats 30, so +36 → 424 |
| Second innings 392/9 | 33 (2 short) | 11 × 2 = 22 beats 20, so +22 → 414 |
If the 35th over starts before the cut-off (for example at 15:18 for a 15:20 cut-off) and finishes after it, it's completed and no penalty runs apply.
The team batting second is still entitled to its full 35 overs, however many overs it bowled in time. In Saturday One to Six, the first innings runs 13:00 to 15:20 and the second innings starts no later than 15:40, unless the overs were reduced by earlier interruptions.
Limited-overs matches (50, 35 and 20 overs):
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Win with a bonus point | 6 |
| Win | 5 |
| Tie | 3 |
| No result | 2 |
| Loss without conceding a bonus point | 1 |
| Loss conceding a bonus point | 0 |
Time cricket:
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Outright win | 13 |
| Outright win after a first-innings tie / after trailing | 10 / 7 |
| Outright tie after leading / tie / trailing on first innings | 9 / 8 / 5 |
| Outright loss after leading / after a tie on first innings | 6 / 3 |
| Outright loss | 0 |
| First-innings win / tie / loss in a drawn match | 6 / 3 / 0 |
| Drawn or washed-out match with no first-innings result | 3 |
Time-cricket bonus points: batting points for the first-innings total: 100 to 129 = 1, 130 to 159 = 2, 160 to 189 = 3, 190 to 219 = 4, 220 to 249 = 5, 250+ = 6. Bowling points for first-innings wickets: 1 or 2 = 1, 3 or 4 = 2, 5 or 6 = 3, 7 or 8 = 4, 9 = 5, 10 = 6.
Penalty points (all formats): late start −1; defaulting from a fixture −4; a late result card −1 (plus R100); a late umpires' evaluation form −1; and slow over rates as set out for each format.
The scorers complete the result card. The captains check it and the umpires sign it. Under the CGL By-laws, each card must show:
Deadline (2025/26 playing conditions): the card must reach the CGL office by 18:00 on the Monday after the game, even if no play was possible. A late card costs a R100 fine and 1 match point. Keep a copy.
Ball: if a team used a ball other than the one prescribed for the league, the umpires record it on the card.