About Runs Above Average
A traditional scorecard tells you who scored what. Runs Above Average tells you whose performance actually moved the team — given the state of the match when it happened.
The idea
Runs Above Average (RAA) measures each player's contribution to their team's final score relative to what an average player would have contributed in the same situation — same over, same wickets in hand, same runs already on the board. The metric isn't trying to replace runs or wickets; it's trying to answer a question those stats don't: how hard was the moment, and how well did the player handle it?
A 60 off 60 looks respectable on a scorecard, but in a T20 with wickets in hand it's typically below what an average player delivers from that state. That same 60 off 60 with wickets tumbling at the other end may be well above average. RAA captures that nuance; strike rate doesn't.
A real example
Take Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (2026-05-18). The official Player of the Match was Ishan Kishan for his 70 off 47 balls. RAA tells a slightly different story.
Chennai Super Kings were chasing 181 to win. At 7.4 overs they were 56/2, and the model put their predicted final score at 155 — below the target, behind the game. Klaasen walked in, joined Kishan at the crease, and the two added 75 runs together over the next seven overs. When Klaasen was dismissed at 14.3 overs, the score was 131/3 and the predicted final had climbed to 194 — now well above the target. That seven-over partnership swung the predicted outcome by 39 runs and flipped the match from a losing position to a winning one.
Both batters contributed, but Klaasen drove the partnership. Of the 75 runs added, Klaasen scored 47 off 26 (SR 181); Kishan, during the same window, scored 26 off 15 (SR 173). That's why Klaasen's match RAA (+21) is more than double Kishan's (+10), even though Kishan won the official Player of the Match for his full innings. RAA isn't measuring just runs — it's measuring how much each player's scoring shifted the team's predicted outcome from the situation they faced.
Predicted final score, over by over
The line is what the model expected Chennai Super Kings to finish on, re-computed after every over. The shaded band is the Klaasen-Kishan partnership window. The target (181) is the dashed red line — the partnership is the moment the predicted line crossed above it.
How RAA is measured
Batting Runs Above Average
If an average T20 team batting first scores 165 and Team A scores 200, Team A scored 35 runs above average. The sum of each batter's individual RAA in that team will also equal 35 — so RAA tells you exactly which batters contributed which slice of those 35 above-average runs.
Bowling Runs Above Average
In the same example, Team B (bowling) gave up 35 runs above average. Each bowler's RAA will sum to −35 — measuring each bowler's share of allowing the opposition to score above average. By definition, if a batter generates +5 RAA against a bowler in a particular over, the bowler that over has −5 RAA.
Player Runs Above Average
Plenty of players bat and bowl in the same match. A player's total RAA is simply batting RAA plus bowling RAA — the player with the highest combined RAA had the most consequential match, regardless of whether the bigger contribution came with bat or ball.
What you can do with it
Compare batters and bowlers directly
Traditional stats can't say whether a 50 off 30 was more valuable than a 3-for-25. RAA gives both performances a number on the same scale — the comparison becomes a comparison, not an opinion.
Career and series RAA
RAA accumulates. A player's series or career RAA tells you how much above (or below) average they've contributed over many matches. The per-match average is the cleaner career metric: a positive average means the player has consistently delivered above what an average player would have given the situations they faced. A negative average means the opposite.
A different kind of winning margin
Team A scores 200, Team B scores 170 — Team A wins by 30. Player RAA for Team A will sum to +30; for Team B, −30. You can see exactly which players on either side contributed which slice of the result.
RAA also gives you a runs-equivalent margin for wins achieved batting second. A win by "5 wickets with 6 balls to spare" is awkward to compare across a tournament; RAA converts it into a runs margin you can rank. Useful as a tiebreaker when teams finish the league stage on level points.