Duckworth-Lewis-Stern: how interrupted matches get a new target.

Why a method is needed

The Laws of Cricket leave this to the organisers. Under Law 16.4 of the MCC's 2017 Code 4th Edition (2026), a limited-overs match that is not decided in the normal way is settled as the pre-match agreement lays down. In international cricket that agreement is the ICC's playing conditions, and they use DLS.

The ICC defines DLS as the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method of setting the target for the side batting second in an interrupted match, with the details published on the ICC website (definitions, clause 1.16, women's ODI playing conditions effective July 2026). Our research did not find the ICC's DLS page itself and did not read the men's ODI and T20I playing conditions for these rules, so the rules below are those in the women's ODI document.

How the ICC applies it

Revised targets

When play is suspended and either innings has to be shortened, to no fewer than 20 overs, the side batting second gets a revised target calculated with the current DLS method. The target is always a whole number. Scoring one run fewer than the target is a Tie.

Par scores when play cannot resume

If the second innings is stopped after at least 20 overs and cannot restart, the result is decided by comparing the batting side's score with the DLS Par Score at the moment play stopped. Equal to par is a Tie. Otherwise the side wins or loses by the number of runs it is above or below par.

The 20-over minimum

Those conditions also need the side batting second to have faced at least 20 overs for there to be a result. If both teams have not had the chance to bat 20 overs, the match is a No Result unless it is awarded (clauses 13.7 and 16.1.3).

Level after DLS

If the scores are level after DLS has been applied, the tie is decided by a Super Over in that competition (clause 16). A Super Over is one six-ball over per side, and the side that scores more runs in it wins, regardless of wickets lost, with further Super Overs if needed (Appendix G).

Net run rate

The same conditions say how matches decided by DLS feed into net run rate:

• where a match is abandoned but decided by DLS, the side batting first is credited with the second side's Par Score from the same number of overs;
• where DLS was applied earlier in the match, the side batting first is credited with one run less than the final target, from the overs allotted to the side batting second.

Where the method came from

Bond University is Stern's own institution, so its account is the university's description of its academic's work. Wikipedia dates the original method's first use to 1997, and the ICC's own history page says the Duckworth-Lewis method was first trialled in ODIs in 1997.

The 2018 update

According to the PTI report of the ICC's statement, the version introduced from 30 September 2018 was built on data from 700 ODIs and 428 T20 internationals, more than 240,000 deliveries. The ICC said par scores under the update assume a slightly larger share of runs scored late in an innings, and that a single version suits all formats and both men's and women's cricket. The first international played under it was South Africa against Zimbabwe in Kimberley, according to the same report.

What this page does not cover

The ICC's definition says the details of the DLS calculation are published on the ICC website; they were not part of our research, so no worked figures are given here. For how ordinary results are decided, see extras, the follow-on and results.