Cricket has its own terms, and “over” is one you’ll hear constantly. If you’re new to the game, working out what an over is and how many balls it involves can feel a bit puzzling at first.
This guide breaks down the essentials: what an over means, why it is usually six balls, what happens with no-balls and wides, what a maiden over is, and how many overs a bowler can deliver.
You will also see how overs work in Tests, One-Day matches and T20s, plus how an over is completed and signalled.
Read on to learn more.
How Many Balls Are In An Over?
An over is a set of six consecutive legal deliveries bowled by one player from one end of the pitch. Each legal ball counts towards the six. When the sixth legal delivery is bowled, the over is complete.
After an over finishes, a different bowler delivers the next over from the other end. This end-to-end rhythm shapes the flow of every match.
So, where did the six-ball standard come from, and why did it stick?
Why Does An Over Usually Have Six Balls?
Cricket did not always use six-ball overs. In the sport’s early years, some competitions used four, five or eight balls per over. By the 1970s, most major competitions had settled on six. It balanced fairness, pace and practicality, making games easier to manage for players, officials and spectators.
A single, consistent length helps everyone follow the match and compare performances across formats. Even so, overs can sometimes stretch beyond six balls, which leads neatly to the next point.
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Can An Over Be More Or Less Than Six Balls?
Six is the standard, but there are exceptions.
An over can include more than six deliveries if there are wides or no-balls. Those are not counted as legal deliveries, so the bowler must bowl extra balls to complete the over.
An over can finish with fewer than six legal balls when an innings ends mid-over. That happens if the batting side is all out, a target is reached in a chase, or time runs out in a timed match. The over simply ends with the innings.
Historically, some competitions capped overs at fewer or more than six balls, but that is uncommon today.
What Happens After A No-Ball Or Wide?
A no-ball is called when the bowler breaks a law of delivery, such as overstepping the front line. A wide is called when the ball is out of the striker’s reach. In both cases, the batting team receives one penalty run, and the ball does not count towards the six in the over.
The delivery remains in play. Batters can still score runs by running or by hitting a no-ball to the boundary. In limited-overs cricket, a no-ball for overstepping usually grants a free hit next ball, where the striker cannot be out in most ways. Dismissals like run-out, obstructing the field or hitting the ball twice can still apply.
When nothing is conceded at all across six legal balls, you get the opposite outcome.
What Is A Maiden Over?
A maiden over is one in which the batting side scores no runs of any kind. That means six legal deliveries with no runs off the bat and no extras such as wides, no-balls, byes or leg byes. If there is also a wicket in that over, it is called a wicket-maiden.
Maidens matter because they slow the scoring rate and build pressure. In long-form cricket, they help control the game’s tempo, and in limited-overs matches, they can swing momentum and tighten targets without a ball crossing the boundary.
How Many Overs Can A Bowler Bowl?
It depends on the format. In Test cricket, there is no fixed limit on how many overs a bowler may deliver, so long as the captain keeps handing over the ball and the bowler can maintain the workload. In limited-overs formats, there are caps to keep things balanced. In a 50-over match, a bowler can usually bowl up to 10 overs. In T20s, the limit is 4 overs per bowler.
If a limited-overs match is shortened by weather, the maximum per bowler is adjusted in proportion to the new number of overs so that one player cannot dominate the innings.
Knowing the individual limits sets up the team picture.
How Many Overs Are There In Test, One-Day And T20 Matches?
In Test matches, there is no fixed limit to overs for an innings. Each team has up to two innings, and play continues until the batting side is all out, the captain declares, or time runs out. There is a target number of overs to be bowled in a day, typically around 90, but the innings itself is not capped.
In One-Day matches, each side gets 50 overs, which means up to 300 legal deliveries per innings. Interruptions can reduce that number, with run chases recalculated under the competition’s playing conditions.
In T20 matches, each side has 20 overs. The shorter format compresses strategy into a tight window, with powerplays, field settings and bowling changes all geared towards getting the most out of 120 legal deliveries.
With that structure in mind, it helps to know exactly when an over ends and how everyone is told.
How Is An Over Completed And Signalled?
An over is complete after the sixth legal delivery from one end. Any wides or no-balls are excluded from that count. The umpire calls “over” and raises one arm to confirm it has finished. Umpires usually keep track with counters as well as verbal calls to avoid miscounts.
Once an over ends, play switches: a new bowler takes the next over from the opposite end, the field adjusts, and the batting pair stays in place unless they changed ends by running on the previous ball. If there is an interruption, such as rain stopping play mid-over, the remaining legal deliveries are bowled when play resumes.
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With these basics in hand, the over ceases to be a mystery and becomes a simple building block that helps the whole match make sense.
