Lucknow, an evening T20 at Ekana, and the side batting first has put up 180/6. You're halfway through a plate of kebabs when the first drops land. Then it pours. Forty minutes later the umpires come out, the chase is cut to 15 overs, and the big screen shows a new target that's lower than 181 but nowhere near 136 either. Your friend says "DLS, yaar" as though that explains everything.
It does explain everything, once you know what DLS is doing. This post covers where the method came from, the idea of resources, how a revised target and a par score come about, and what rain means for your markets on PLAYZONE9. No heavy maths, promise. The official numbers come from tables and software, and every target in this post is a rough, hypothetical figure for illustration.
Why rain-hit matches need a method at all
If a chase gets shortened, you can't just cut the target in proportion. Scoring 180 in 20 overs isn't the same as scoring 135 in 15, because a side with fewer overs and all ten wickets can afford to swing harder. Older rain rules ignored that and produced some famously unfair targets, either ridiculously easy or flat-out impossible.
A fair method has to account for two things at once: how many overs a team has left, and how many wickets they've got to use them with.
Where DLS came from
The Duckworth-Lewis method was devised by two English statisticians, Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, and was first used in international cricket in 1997. Over time, Australian statistician Steven Stern updated the calculations to better reflect modern scoring, particularly the higher totals in limited-overs cricket. Around 2014 to 2015 it was renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, which is why you now see DLS rather than D/L on PLAYZONE9 and on broadcasts.
How DLS works: resources, not run rates
The big idea is "resources". A batting side's resources are a mix of overs remaining and wickets in hand. At the start of an innings, a side has 100% of its resources. Every ball bowled and every wicket lost uses some up.
Overs remaining
Fewer overs means fewer resources, obviously. But the drop isn't straight-line. Losing the last five overs hurts less than you'd think if a team has lost most of its wickets anyway, because they couldn't have used those overs fully.
Wickets in hand
This is the bit run-rate methods missed. A side that's 90/1 has far more resources left than one that's 90/7, even after the same number of overs. DLS reflects that, so losing wickets before rain arrives makes your position look worse on paper, which is fair.
The resource percentages come from published tables (and software for the professional edition). Compare the resources each side had, scale the first-innings total accordingly, and you get a revised target.
How a DLS target and par score are calculated
Back at Ekana. Team one used their full 20 overs for 180. The chase is cut to 15 overs before it begins. Very roughly, 15 overs with all ten wickets is something like four-fifths of the resources of a full 20-over chase. Scale 180 by that and add one, and you land somewhere in the region of 145. Treat that as an illustration, not a real figure. The match officials work out the exact target.
The par score is the live version of the same idea. At any point in a chase, DLS can tell you the score the chasing side would need to be level if play stopped right now and never resumed. If the chasing side is above par when rain ends the match, they win. Below par, they lose.
| Situation when rain arrives | What happens to the target or par |
|---|---|
| Overs cut before the chase starts | Target scaled down, but not in straight proportion |
| Chasing side has lost few wickets | Par is higher, because they had lots of resources left |
| Chasing side has lost many wickets | Par is lower, but they're likely behind it anyway |
| First innings itself was shortened | Target can go up as well as down, depending on resources used |
What DLS means for your bets
When rain is in the air, the scorecard and the par score matter more than the run rate. Say the chase at Ekana gets going and you've backed the chasing side for ₹800 at 1.90 on PLAYZONE9, which is ₹720 profit if they win. They're 68/1 after 8 overs when the clouds roll back in. Imagine the par at that moment is somewhere around 61. They're ahead. If the match ends there, your ₹800 back wins, and prices would usually reflect that quickly.
Now flip it. Same 8 overs, but they're 68/4. With more wickets down, they've used more resources, so the par would sit lower, yet a team losing wickets often falls behind par anyway. Rain becomes a coin you didn't know you'd tossed. That's a good reason to keep stakes smaller on PLAYZONE9 when the forecast looks grim.
Before you bet on a match with rain forecast, check these:
- The forecast for the whole match window, not just the start.
- Where the chasing side stands against par, over by over.
- How each market settles if overs are reduced. Read the market rules on PLAYZONE9, since Match Odds and session markets can be treated differently.
- Whether the minimum overs for a result are likely to be reached.
Quick recap
- DLS started as Duckworth-Lewis in 1997 and became Duckworth-Lewis-Stern around 2014 to 2015.
- Resources combine overs remaining and wickets in hand.
- Revised targets and the live par score come from resource tables, not simple run rates.
- Above par when play ends means a win; below par means a loss.
Frequently asked questions
Why does DLS care about wickets as well as overs?
Because a team with wickets in hand can bat more aggressively and use its remaining overs better. A side that's 90/1 is in a much stronger position than one that's 90/7 after the same overs. Ignoring wickets gave unfair targets in older rain rules, which is exactly the problem Duckworth and Lewis set out to fix.
Can a DLS target be higher than the original score?
Yes, in some cases. If the first innings is interrupted and shortened, the side batting first may not have had the chance to use all its resources. DLS can then set the chasing side a target higher than the runs actually scored, to reflect what team one would likely have made with the full innings.
Where can I see the DLS par score during a match?
Broadcasters usually show it on screen when rain is around, and commentators mention it often. On PLAYZONE9 you can follow the live score ball by ball and compare the chasing side's total with the par figure being quoted. It's the single most useful number to watch once rain is forecast.
Next time the covers come on
Keep the PLAYZONE9 live score open and watch how the par score moves with every wicket and every boundary. It's a far better guide than the run rate when the weather turns. Want a refresher on reading the numbers? Our guide to reading a cricket scorecard covers it, and our post on the toss and pitch conditions explains how weather shapes matches even when it stays dry.