---
title: "Overs to Balls Converter & Overs Calculator | Trend Cricket"
description: "Convert cricket overs to balls and back, turn 16.4 overs into 16.667 for maths, and add or subtract overs properly: 4.4 + 3.3 = 8.1, not 7.7."
url: https://trendcricket.buzz/overs-to-balls/
---

Overs notation · 16.4 = 100 balls

# Overs to balls converter

In cricket, 16.4 overs means 16 overs and 4 balls, which is why ordinary decimal maths goes wrong. Convert overs, balls and decimal overs into each other, and add or subtract overs the way a scorer does.

## Why 4.4 + 3.3 is 8.1

An over is six legal balls. Scorers write overs as whole overs, a dot, then the balls bowled in the over that is under way, so the digit after the dot runs from 0 to 5 and never reaches 6: the ball after 16.5 makes it 17 overs. That makes the dot a separator, not a decimal point.

To do sums, turn everything into balls first: overs × 6 + balls. 4.4 is 28 balls and 3.3 is 21, so together they are 49 balls, which is 8 overs and 1 ball, written 8.1. Adding them as decimals gives 7.7, an impossible figure. Subtraction works the same way: 50 overs less 32.4 is 300 − 196 = 104 balls, or 17.2 overs left.

**Decimal overs** are what rate sums need. Each ball is a sixth of an over, so 16.4 overs is 16⅔, or 16.667. Run rates, economy rates and net run rates all divide by this figure, never by 16.4. Going the other way, a spreadsheet's 16.67 is 100 balls, which a scoreboard shows as 16.4.

Six-ball overs have been used in all Test cricket since 1979/80. Before that, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and, for a time, England and Pakistan used eight-ball overs, so old scorecards from those countries may show figures like 22.7. Switch to 8 balls to convert them.

## Sources

- MCC. *Laws of Cricket*, Law 17: The over. [lawsofcricket.lords.org](https://lawsofcricket.lords.org/laws-of-cricket/the-over-scoring-runs-dead-ball-and-extras/the-over)
- ICC. *ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 Playing Conditions*, clauses 17.1 and 17.3 (overs of 6 valid balls; wides and no-balls not counted). [ICC playing conditions (PDF)](https://images.icc-cricket.com/image/upload/prd/yyt7m8uh9c1uehrbvuwb.pdf)
- Wikipedia. *Over (cricket)*: balls per over in Test cricket by country and season. [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_(cricket))

## Questions

**How many balls are in 20 overs?**

120, not counting wides and no-balls, which are bowled again. A 50-over innings is 300 balls and a 10-over innings is 60.

**Is 16.5 overs the same as 16½ overs?**

No. 16.5 overs is 16 overs and 5 balls, which is 101 balls or 16.833 decimal overs. Half an over is 3 balls, so 16½ overs is written 16.3.

**What does the converter do with a decimal like 16.7?**

16.7 decimal overs is 100.2 balls, which can't happen, so it rounds to the nearest ball (100, or 16.4) and says so. In the Overs box, 16.7 is rejected: after the dot only 0 to 5 are allowed.