NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Maths Chapter 5 All it Takes is a Minute — In-text Questions
Book page 122 Updated on2026-09-19
Q1.
Answer the following questions based on the graph: Can we tell who batted first? Who won the match?
Runs scored in each over by the two teams, page 122. A circle above a bar marks an over in which a wicket fell.
Answer
The graph does not say directly who batted first — but it can be worked out. The blue team batted first, and the blue team won by 11 runs.
First read the bars, over by over. The scale is 1 unit = 5 runs.
Over
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Blue
2
11
8
7
9
6
3
4
9
8
6
15
6
9
4
10
9
13
17
7
Red
10
8
4
2
11
8
3
6
10
9
9
5
16
11
9
7
7
17
—
—
Blue total = 2+11+8+7+9+6+3+4+9+8+6+15+6+9+4+10+9+13+17+7 = 163 runs in 20 overs
Red total = 10+8+4+2+11+8+3+6+10+9+9+5+16+11+9+7+7+17 = 152 runs in 18 overs
Who won? The blue team scored more runs, so the blue team won by 163 − 152 = 11 runs.
Who batted first? The graph does not label the innings — the two bars simply stand side by side for each over. But two facts decide it.
The red team has no bars at all in overs 19 and 20. Its innings ended after 18 overs, which in a 20-over match means the side was all out.
The blue team's score after 19 overs was 2+11+8+7+9+6+3+4+9+8+6+15+6+9+4+10+9+13+17 = 156, already more than the red team's 152. Yet the blue team went on to bat over 20. A team chasing a target stops the moment it passes that target — so the blue team cannot have been chasing.
The conclusion: the blue team batted first and made 163 in its full 20 overs. The red team then chased 164, and was bowled out for 152 in 18 overs. The 7 wicket-circles all sit above blue bars, in overs 1, 3, 6, 13, 18, 19 and 20 — so the blue team lost 7 wickets while making its 163.
Careful: "blue won" comes straight from the totals — that is proved. "Blue batted first" is an inference from the missing red bars and from blue still batting in over 20. It is a strong argument, but the graph never states it. Keep the two kinds of claim apart.
Q2.
How many runs did the blue team score in over 12?
Answer
15 runs.
Scale: 1 unit length = 5 runs, so the gridlines are at 0, 5, 10 and 15
In over 12 the blue bar reaches exactly the third gridline
Runs = 3 × 5 = 15
Why we can be sure: the top of the bar sits exactly on a printed gridline, so no estimating is needed. A bar that ended between two gridlines would only give an approximate value.
Tip: over 12 was the blue team's second-best over. Only over 19 was better, at about 17 runs. And notice that the red team scored just 5 runs in that same over 12 — a big swing in blue's favour.
Q3.
In which over did the red team score the least number of runs?
Answer
Over 4, with 2 runs — the shortest red bar in the whole graph.
Red team's smallest bars:
Over 4 → 2 runs (shortest)
Over 7 → 3 runs
Over 3 → 4 runs
Over 12 → 5 runs
Why the eye can trust this: the over-4 red bar is clearly less than half the height of the 5-run gridline, while the next shortest red bar (over 7) reaches a little higher. There is no need to measure — the ranking is visible.
Careful: the red team has no bar at all in overs 19 and 20. That is not "0 runs" — the team did not bat those overs. A missing bar and a zero-length bar mean completely different things, exactly as a dash and a 0 did in the batting averages earlier in the chapter.
Q4.
Is it easy to tell the target set by the team batting first?
Answer
No, it is not easy. The graph shows the runs scored in each over, never the running total.
To find the target you must add all 20 blue bars: 2 + 11 + 8 + 7 + 9 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 9 + 8 + 6 + 15 + 6 + 9 + 4 + 10 + 9 + 13 + 17 + 7 = 163, so the target was 164.
Every one of those 20 numbers has to be read off a bar first. A small misreading in several overs adds up, so your total may be a few runs out.
There is no single mark on the graph you can simply point at and say "that is the target".
Why the graph is built this way: this graph is designed to answer "which over was exciting?", not "what is the score?". Its job is to show the rhythm of the innings — the big overs, the quiet overs, the overs in which wickets fell.
A better graph for the job: plot the cumulative runs — the team's score at the end of each over — as a rising line for each team. Then the target is simply where the first team's line stops, and you can see at a glance whether the chasing team is ahead of or behind the rate it needs.