DLS Method Explained: How Cricket Sets a Revised Target
The DLS method explained simply: how cricket uses overs and wickets as resources to set a fair revised target when rain shortens a limited-overs match.
The DLS method is how cricket sets a fair revised target when a limited-overs match loses time to rain or another stoppage. Instead of cutting the target in line with the overs lost, it compares the run-scoring resources each side had: the overs they could face and the wickets they still had in hand. The side batting second is then set a target that matches the resources actually available to it.
What DLS Stands For
DLS stands for Duckworth/Lewis/Stern.
In the ICC’s playing conditions for one-day internationals, DLS is the named method for working out what the side batting second needs to score after a match has been interrupted. The ICC describes the method as a way of fairly deciding the winner when bad weather stops play, including recalculating totals when time is lost.
The ICC’s methodology document describes the approach as one for setting revised targets in limited-overs matches that have been interrupted by rain.
Why Not Just Use Run Rate?
The simplest fix for lost overs would be an average run-rate method: if the side batting second loses a share of its overs, take the same share off its target. The ICC’s methodology document explains why DLS takes a different route. Run-scoring resources do not move in direct proportion to the overs left. They also depend on how many wickets have fallen when the interruption happens.
The Core Idea: Overs and Wickets as Resources
DLS treats a batting side as having two resources for scoring runs:
- Overs remaining: how much of the innings is still to be bowled.
- Wickets in hand: how many batters are still available.
The methodology combines these two into one figure. That figure is shown as a percentage of the resources available in a complete innings.
The Table and the Calculator
The ICC methodology document includes a Standard Edition table of resource values. It covers every stage of an innings, by overs left and wickets lost. That document treats the Standard Edition as the back-up. It is meant for use when the computer software is not available and no other back-up has been arranged.
In matches, revised targets come from the ICC Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Calculator. Officials use the latest version that the ICC distributes and follow the instructions supplied with it.
How a Revised Target Is Set
The steps follow the same logic every time play is lost, although the effect depends on when the stoppage happens.
Working Out the Resources Lost
When play stops, officials record how many overs are left and how many wickets have fallen. When play restarts, they record the resources left for the reduced number of overs, with the same number of wickets down. The gap between the two figures is the share of resources lost to the stoppage. If the innings cannot restart at all, everything that was left at the moment play stopped counts as lost.
When the Side Batting Second Has Fewer Resources
If the side batting second ends up with fewer resources than the side batting first had, its target comes down. The reduction uses the ratio between the two sides’ resources. The fewer resources the chasing side has, the lower its target.
When the Side Batting Second Has More Resources
A stoppage during the first innings takes away resources the side batting first had planned to use. As a result, the methodology notes, the side batting second often ends up with more resources than the first side had. In that case its target goes up rather than down. The extra runs come from the average runs scored with those extra resources.
So a DLS target can be higher than the first side’s actual score.
Targets, Ties and the Par Score
A revised target is always a whole number. Under the ODI playing conditions, a side batting second that finishes one run below that target has tied the match.
Sometimes the second innings is halted and the match cannot resume. In that case the ODI conditions decide the result by comparing the chasing side’s score with the DLS par score at the moment play stopped. The par score is the total that would leave the two sides level at that point, given the overs used and wickets lost. A score above par means the chasing side wins. A score below par means it loses, and a score exactly on par means a tie.
The ODI conditions also say both sides must have had the chance to bat for a minimum number of overs before a result can stand. If that minimum is not reached, the match is a no result.
What DLS Does
DLS turns lost playing time into a revised target based on the overs and wickets each side had available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who calculates the DLS target during a match?
According to the ICC methodology document, the revised target comes from the ICC Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Calculator software. The Standard Edition table is only a back-up for when the software is not available.
Why can a DLS target be higher than the first team’s score?
A stoppage during the first innings takes away resources the side batting first had planned to use. If the side batting second then has more resources, its target is raised using the average runs scored with those extra resources.
What is a DLS par score?
It is the score that would leave the chasing side level at a particular moment, given the overs used and wickets lost. If play cannot resume, the ODI conditions decide the result by comparing the actual score with par.
