A maiden over in cricket is a completed over of six legal deliveries from which the batting side scores no runs off the bat. The bowler sends down all six fair balls, the batters fail to score, and no extras are conceded — so nothing is added to the total during that over. It is one of the simplest ways to measure a tidy, pressure-building spell of bowling.
The building block: what an over is
An over is a set of six legal deliveries bowled by one bowler from one end of the pitch. Once those six fair balls are done, the umpire calls “over,” the fielders switch sides, and a different bowler takes the next set from the opposite end. The same bowler is not allowed to bowl two overs in a row, which is why maidens are always the work of a bowler completing a single, self-contained set of six.
Crucially, only legal balls count toward the six. If the bowler bowls a wide or a no-ball, that delivery does not count and must be re-bowled, so an over can involve more than six actual balls but always contains six legal ones. This matters for maidens because a wide or no-ball also adds a run to the total, which — as we will see — is enough to spoil a maiden even before you consider what the batter does with the bat.
What makes an over a maiden
For an over to be a maiden, no runs of any kind can come from it. That means:
- No runs scored by the batters running between the wickets.
- No boundaries (fours or sixes) struck off the bat.
- No extras — no wides, no-balls, byes, or leg byes.
If the score at the start of the over is the same as the score at the end of the over, it is a maiden. If even a single run is added by any means, it is not.
Extras that spoil a maiden
A common point of confusion is the difference between runs off the bat and extras. Even if the batter never scores, certain extras still ruin a maiden because they add to the team total. A wide or a no-ball concedes at least one run and forces a re-bowl. Byes (the ball passes everyone and the batters run) and leg byes (the ball hits the batter’s body and they run) are not credited to the batter, but they do increase the total. So an over with a single leg bye is not a maiden, even though no one “scored.” For more on how a batter can go scoreless entirely, see our explainer on what a duck is in cricket.
Wicket maidens and why they matter
A maiden over in which the bowler also takes a wicket is called a wicket maiden — the best of both worlds, since the bowler conceded nothing and removed a batter. Two wickets in the same scoreless over make it a double-wicket maiden, and three a triple-wicket maiden, which is a genuinely rare event. Analysts track maidens closely because they show a bowler applying pressure: the longer a batter goes without scoring, the more likely they are to take a risk and get out. A run of maidens can force a batting side into rash strokes simply because the required run rate keeps climbing while the scoreboard stays still.
That pressure is why captains value a bowler who can “dry up” the runs even without taking wickets. A tidy spell of maidens at one end lets the bowler at the other end attack more aggressively, knowing the batters are desperate to score. In that sense a maiden is a team weapon as much as an individual achievement.
How maidens differ across formats
Maidens are far more common in the longer game, where batters are content to defend and wait. In limited-overs cricket, and especially the shortest format, batters attack almost every ball, so a maiden is rare and prized. The value of a scoreless over changes with the format’s tempo — something we cover in our guide to Test, ODI and T20 cricket formats. Under the Laws of Cricket, maintained by the Marylebone Cricket Club and adopted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the definition stays the same regardless of format.
Reading maidens on a scorecard
On a bowling scorecard you will usually see four key columns: overs, maidens, runs, and wickets — often abbreviated O-M-R-W. A line reading “10-3-24-2” means the bowler sent down ten overs, three of which were maidens, conceded 24 runs, and took two wickets. Those three maidens tell you the bowler kept things tight and made the batters work for every run. It is a quiet statistic, but a telling one. Paired with the economy rate — the average number of runs conceded per over — it gives a rounded picture of how well a bowler contained the batting side, quite apart from how many wickets they took.
Frequently asked questions
Does a maiden over have to be six balls?
Yes. An over is complete only after six legal deliveries. Any wides or no-balls bowled during the over are re-bowled, so a maiden always ends up being six fair balls with no runs scored off the bat.
Do byes and leg byes break a maiden?
Yes. Byes and leg byes are not credited to the batter, but they are added to the team total, so any run scored during the over — including byes and leg byes — means it is not a maiden.
What is a wicket maiden?
A wicket maiden is a maiden over in which the bowler also dismisses at least one batter. A double-wicket maiden means two wickets fell in the same scoreless over.
Are maiden overs tracked in T20 cricket?
They are recorded in every format, but they are rare in T20 because batters attack almost every ball. A maiden in a T20 innings is considered an excellent over for the bowler.
Does a wide or no-ball ruin a maiden?
Yes. A wide or no-ball adds at least one run (an extra) to the total and must be re-bowled, so it prevents the over from being a maiden.
