DLS Method Explained: How Rain-Affected Targets Are Set
When rain cuts overs out of a one-day or T20 match, the target cannot simply be scaled down by the number of overs lost. The DLS method sets a fair revised target instead. This guide explains how it works, in plain words.
What is the DLS method?
DLS stands for Duckworth-Lewis-Stern. It is the system the ICC uses to set a revised target when a limited-overs match is shortened by rain, bad light or any other stoppage.
It was created by two English statisticians, Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, and first used in international cricket in the late 1990s as the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method. Australian statistician Steven Stern later updated it for the higher-scoring modern game, and it was renamed Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in 2014. Scorecards still often show it as “D/L” or “DLS”.
The key idea: resources, not just overs
A batting side has two resources: the overs it has left and the wickets it has in hand. Ten overs with all ten wickets left are worth far more than ten overs with two wickets left, because a team with wickets in hand can attack.
DLS uses a table that says what percentage of its total resources a team still has for any combination of overs left and wickets lost. When overs are lost, the method works out how much of each team’s resources were taken away, and adjusts the target so both sides are judged on the resources they actually had.
That is why a simple “runs per over” calculation gives a different answer from DLS: losing the last ten overs costs a team much more than losing ten overs at the start, because the final overs are when teams with wickets in hand score fastest.
Par score and the revised target
- Revised target: the score the team batting second needs to win when its innings is shortened. It is announced on the scoreboard after a stoppage.
- Par score: the score the chasing side should have at any point to be level, given the overs faced and wickets lost. If play cannot restart, the team ahead of par wins.
- Winning “by X runs (DLS)”: the chasing team finished X runs behind par (or the target) when the match ended, so the side batting first wins by that margin.
Example: in the 2nd ODI between New Zealand and India in Wellington on 7 November 2026, India won by 4 runs on the DLS method. India had also won the 1st ODI in Auckland on DLS, by 5 wickets.
How many overs are needed for a result?
For a match to be decided on DLS, the team batting second must have had the chance to face a minimum number of overs: 20 overs in a men’s ODI and 5 overs in a T20 or T20I. If fewer overs are possible, the match is declared a no result (or abandoned, if no ball is bowled, as in the 3rd NZ v India ODI at Hamilton).
Does DLS favour one side?
The method is designed to be neutral, and it has been revised over the years as scoring patterns changed. Captains and analysts still watch the par score closely during rain breaks: a side batting second will often push to stay ahead of par when bad weather is coming, because if play stops for good, being ahead of par wins the match.
Follow rain-affected matches on Alventra Sports: every match page has the live score, a full scorecard, ball-by-ball commentary and the Crease Cam replay, updating every few seconds while play is on. The schedule shows every fixture in your own time zone.