The strike rate is one of the oldest forms of evaluating the batting and bowling skill of a player in cricket. However, if you are wondering What Is Strike Rate In Cricket, you will be surprised to find that the meaning of strike rate is different for bowlers and batters.
For batters, a strike indicates how many runs they score in every 100 deliveries, thus depicting their ability to score runs faster.
On the other hand, the bowling strike rate shows how many deliveries a bowler takes to get a wicket in a cricket match. Read on to learn more about cricket bowling and batting strike rates.
How To Calculate Strike Rate?
Like its definition, the process of calculating strike is also different for batters and bowlers. However, if you are a cricket fan, you must be aware of calculating the strike rate method. For those unfamiliar with the calculation of the strike rate, here’s how it’s as follows.
- For a batter, the strike rate is calculated by dividing the total runs scored by the number of deliveries a batter faces in an inning and multiplying this by 100.
- The bowling strike of a bowler represents the total number of deliveries taken by a bowler to get one wicket. Therefore, for one inning, the bowling strike rate is calculated by dividing the total wickets taken by the total deliveries bowled.
Generally, strike rates vary across different formats for both bowlers and batters. Therefore, the average strike of players is calculated by taking the average of all their innings throughout their careers.
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What is the Batting strike rate?
For a batter, strike the ability of how fast or slow a batter can score in the match. A high strike shows that the player has a strong power-hitting game and can prove successful in a shorter game format (T20).
However, the batters’ strike rate doesn’t matter much in test matches, as it’s all about spending on the crease in a test match.
Since the strike formula involves multiplying the ratio of total runs scored to total deliveries faced with 100, it represents how many runs a batter can score in 100 deliveries.
This means that if the total number of deliveries was more runs scored in an innings, then the strike rate of that batter will be less than 100 due to a decrease in their scoring per ball faced.
On the other hand, if the runs scored are more than the total number of balls faced, the batting strike rate will be higher, thus indicating faster-scoring speed.
What is the bowling strike rate?
The strike rate for bowlers is the total number of deliveries a bowler takes to get one wicket. Therefore, bowling strike rate measures how fast a bowler can take wickets in a match.
Looking at the bowling strike rate, one can calculate the number of deliveries a bowler will take to get a wicket.
Unlike batting strike rate, a low bowling strike shows the higher efficiency of a bowler. An average bowling strike means that they simply take as many balls as possible to get one wicket.
What is the Difference between Bowling Average and Strike Rate?
Bowling average and strike rate are two different quantities, but they both represent the efficiency of a bowler.
The bowling average shows how many runs a bowler will concede to get a wicket. It is calculated by dividing the total wickets taken by a batter’s total runs conceded in an inning.
Now, the strike of a bowler shows the number of deliveries the bowler will take to get one wicket.
The major difference here is that average is based on runs, whereas the strike is calculated using a total number of deliveries.
What is the Difference between Batting Average and Strike Rate?
If you compare the batting average and batting strike rate, you will not find that the average is significantly lower than the strike rate for most players.
This is because the average of a batter shows how much he scores every time he comes out to bat.
However, the strike rate is the rate at which the batsman scores in his inning. The major difference between average and strike rate is that a batsman’s average is not affected by the number of deliveries he faces. Whereas strike rate is primarily based on the total runs scored and deliveries faced in an inning.
Who Has The Best Bowling Strike Rate In Test Cricket?
Generally, the bowling strike rate of different bowlers varies according to the number of matches they play. As a bowler continues to play through his career, it’s common to see a higher strike rate.
However, there were legends like George Lohmann, who played over 112 tests and ended up with a strike rate of 34.1.
Among modern greats, Dale Steyn was the leading pick for any bowling line-up due to his impressive strike rate of 42.3 after playing over 439 test matches.
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Who Has The Highest Batting Strike Rate In ODI Cricket?
Batting strike rate is one of the most important factors in a limited cricket match. In ODIs, the scoring rate can affect the result of the match.
The batsman who scores at a faster pace will have the upper hand against the bowlers of his opponent team.
There are players with higher batting strike rates than usual, like the power hitter of west Indies, Andre Russell. Russell has been impressive throughout his career in ODI matches with his massive strike rate of 130 plus.
A few other players with impressive strike rare are Rohit Sharma (135), Glenn Maxwell (123.30), and Jos Buttler (119.83).
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. What is a good batting strike rate in cricket?
In cricket, a good strike rate depends upon the format of the game. For the shorter format of the game, a strike rate of 125+ is considered ideal, whereas there is not much significant strike rate in test matches.
Q2. Who has the highest strike rate in IPL?
The player with the highest strike rate in IPL is Andre Russell, with a strike rate of 177.88. Russell plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL and has single-handedly won the match for his team on many occasions. The second-best strike rate in IPL after Russell is of English batsman Liam Livingston (166.78).
Q3. Who has the lowest strike rate in ODI?
The player with the lowest strike rate in ODI is C B Mpofu (27.27), after playing 84 ODI matches for Zimbabwe. Mpofu is a right-arm fast-medium bowler with the best bowling strike rate in ODI matches.
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