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Introduction to Duckworth-Lewis method

Weather always has its effect on the game and sometimes a good gdame (just for joke: dame in French means a woman, so imagine the sentence, a good woman gets spoiled due to the weather. Hilarious!!) gets spoiled due to bad weather conditions. In the game of cricket, proper weather conditions are needed and the bad weather conditions severely affect the game in all aspects. So the cricket board introduced a new method in cricket called Duckworth-Lewis method which is also called as DL method to decide the win factor. This method is a way to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day international cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstances. It has been based on a formula and involves mathematical calculations.

This method was first applied during a match between India and Pakistan in Feb 2006. India and Pakistan played a five series match in Pakistan and India batted first with a score of 328 in 49 over. Pakistan batted second with a score of 311/7 and unfortunately the match was stopped due to bad light. The match referees used DL method and declared victory for Pakistan considering the fact of score. Both the team scores were compared and India was lacking behind in 47th over so Pakistan won the match. After that, this method was in flow and used in cricket widely. This statistical method is devised by two British statisticians called Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis and their aim is to reset a target score if play in a one day match is interrupted.

It has been in operation for over four years and has been called into use on more than 200 occasions. The formula used by the D/L system is:

The game of cricket originated in England and after that many rules and regulations were formed and even there are many rules framed for cricket bats, cricket balls and other cricket accessories. These rules describe some issues on how to use the cricket bats and balls and also to deal with the weight of those accessories.