The DLS method in plain words
When rain takes overs away, DLS sets a fair target by asking how much of their batting resources each side had: overs left and wickets in hand together. The chasing side’s target is scaled by the resources it gets compared with the side that batted first.
In short
- Overs alone are unfairA chase with every wicket in hand can bat more freely than a cut by overs allows for.
- Resources are overs and wicketsA side's batting is a store of overs left and wickets in hand, counted together.
- The target is scaledThe chasing side's target is scaled by its resources against the first side's.
- Down, but by less160 in 20 overs and a chase cut to 12 sets a target of 107, not the 97 a cut by overs gives.
- The published Standard EditionThe calculator uses the Standard Edition, for a delay before the chase starts.
- Check your leagueMany local leagues use a simpler rule, so read your league's playing conditions first.
The problem DLS solves
A side that bats first for 20 overs sets a target. Then rain takes away eight overs before the chase. Cutting the target by the same share of overs sounds fair and is not, because a chasing side with ten wickets and twelve overs can bat far more freely than a side that had to pace twenty. The exists to answer what a fair target is when overs are lost.
Resources, in plain words
DLS treats a side's batting as a store of resources: the overs it has left and the wickets it has in hand, together. Ten wickets and 20 overs is all of it. Losing overs takes some away; losing wickets takes some away too.
The target is then scaled by how the resources compare. If the chasing side gets fewer resources than the side that batted first had, its target comes down, but by less than the overs alone would suggest, because it still has every wicket.
Take a side that made 160 in 20 overs, and a chase cut to 12 before it starts. Cutting by overs alone, twelve twentieths of 160 is 96, so the target would be 97. The Standard Edition says twelve overs with ten wickets in hand are worth about two thirds of a full twenty, not three fifths, so the target is 107.
Which DLS
Top-level cricket uses the Professional Edition, which needs software and is not published. The published Standard Edition is what most local cricket can apply by hand, and it is what the calculator on this page uses, for a delay before the chase starts.
Many local leagues use a simpler rule, such as an average run rate. Check your league's playing conditions before you rely on either.
Questions people ask
About dls in plain words.
Why not just cut the target by the overs lost?
Because overs are not all worth the same. A side with ten wickets and five overs left can swing hard; a side eight down cannot. DLS counts both.
Is this the same calculation as international cricket?
No. Top-level cricket uses the Professional Edition, which is not published. The calculator here uses the published Standard Edition, which is what most local cricket can actually apply.
When does it apply?
When a limited-overs match loses overs, and the playing conditions of your league say it applies. Many local leagues use a simpler rule, so check yours.
What else it does for you
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