How Cricket’s Duckworth–Lewis–Stern Method Works Explainer
The Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method, usually called DLS, adjusts targets when weather or another interruption reduces the time available in a limited-overs cricket match. It does not simply scale the score by the number of overs lost because a team’s scoring potential also depends on how many wickets remain.
DLS treats overs and wickets as the two resources of an innings. A team with many overs and wickets left has more run-scoring capacity than a team with the same overs but few wickets. When play is shortened, the method compares the resources available to each side and produces a revised target.
Timing matters. A delay before the second innings, an interruption midway through a chase, and multiple stoppages can produce different calculations. The target can rise or fall because the batting team may have planned its risk-taking around a longer or shorter innings than the one it ultimately receives.
Fans do not need the proprietary tables to understand the logic. Look at overs left, wickets lost, and whether the interruption changed the balance between the teams. DLS tries to restore that balance with a target reflecting opportunity, not just elapsed balls.
Because wickets are also a scoring resource; a team with many wickets in hand can attack differently from one that has already lost most of them.
Yes. Depending on when the interruption occurs and the resources already used, the fair target may move in either direction.
It is designed for limited-overs matches, where a shortened innings needs a revised chase or result calculation.
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