Boundaries in Cricket: 4s, 6s, and How They're Scored

A boundary is scored when the ball reaches or crosses the perimeter of the playing field, marked by a rope. Boundaries score either four runs (if the ball reaches the rope along the ground or bounces before the rope) or six runs (if the ball clears the rope in the air without bouncing). All runs scored before the ball crosses the boundary are ignored — the boundary replaces them with the flat four or six.

Boundary Rules

• Four: the ball reaches the boundary rope after touching the ground at some point beyond the pitch
• Six: the ball crosses the boundary rope in the air without touching the ground first
• If a fielder catches the ball and steps into or over the rope, it is a six (or four if the ball had bounced)
• If a fielder touches the rope while holding the ball, the ball is still in play as a boundary
• Overthrows that cross the boundary after a deflection score four plus any completed runs

Boundary Rope Placement

The minimum boundary distance from the pitch is 59 yards (54 metres). Grounds with shorter dimensions must have the rope as far back as the physical boundary will allow, up to the maximum 90 yards (82 metres). T20 venues sometimes feature shorter boundaries to encourage more sixes and higher-scoring matches.

Six Records

Chris Gayle holds the record for most sixes in T20I cricket. Rohit Sharma has hit the most sixes in ODI cricket. Babar Azam and Eoin Morgan are among the leaders in T20 sixes. In Test cricket, Ben Stokes, Adam Gilchrist, and Brendon McCullum have all hit prolific six totals.