Understanding the Format and Progression in The Hundred

The Hundred features an engaging format where each team competes in eight group-stage matches, including two fixtures against their local rivals. The team that tops the table after these games advance directly to the final. Meanwhile, the second and third-placed teams face off in the eliminator, with the winner earning a spot in the final.

The group stage concludes on Thursday, August 15. The eliminator follows on Saturday, August 17, and the final is scheduled for Sunday, August 18 at Lord's. Teams with identical points are separated first by net run rate and then by their head-to-head record if needed.

Women’s Hundred: Path to Progression

Welsh Fire currently lead the pack, having secured four victories in their first five matches. Winning two more games will guarantee their advancement, while three wins would ensure a direct entry to the final.

Both Northern Superchargers and Oval Invincibles require three wins from their remaining matches to secure a top-three finish, though two wins might suffice. These teams remain in contention for the top spot.

London Spirit, Trent Rockets, Manchester Originals, and Birmingham Phoenix need to win all their remaining matches and hope for favourable results and net run-rate to qualify.

Southern Brave, the defending champions, must win all three of their remaining games and rely on a series of unlikely outcomes to stay in the race, though they can no longer secure a direct spot in the final.

Men’s Hundred: Path to Progression

Southern Brave and defending champions Oval Invincibles are well-placed, needing three wins from their last three games to guarantee a spot in the final or the eliminator, though two wins might also be sufficient.

Trent Rockets, Birmingham Phoenix, and Northern Superchargers are in a favourable position but might require three wins to advance, with net run-rate potentially playing a crucial role.

Welsh Fire and London Spirit must win all their remaining matches and depend on other results to progress.

Manchester Originals, having lost their first five games, are already eliminated from the competition.

Net Run-Rate Explained

Run-rate is the average number of runs scored per over by a team throughout their innings. For instance, scoring 140 runs in 20 overs results in a run-rate of seven runs per over. Net run-rate is calculated by subtracting the opposition's run-rate from a team’s run-rate. Thus, a winning team has a positive net run-rate, while the losing team has a negative one.

In tournaments, net run-rate is determined by averaging the runs per over scored by a team in all games and subtracting the average runs per over scored against them. If a team is bowled out within their allotted overs, their run-rate is computed by dividing the total runs by the maximum overs they could have batted, which is 20 in this context. Although The Hundred uses five-ball overs, the traditional over format is applied for net run-rate calculations.