Duckworth-Lewis method
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In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth-Lewis method (D/L method) is a way to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance. It was devised by Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis and has been adopted by the International Cricket Council as the standard method to calculate target scores in shortened one-day matches.
The D/L method is relatively simple to apply, but requires a reference table and some calculations with pen and paper or a calculator.
The essence of the D/L method is "resources": each team is taken to have two "resources" to use to make as many runs as possible: first, the number of overs they have to receive and, second, the number of wickets they have in hand. At any point in their innings, a team's ability to score more runs depends on the combination of these two resources. The D/L method uses a table which gives the percentage of these combined resources remaining for any number of overs (or, more accurately, balls) left and wickets lost. To reflect the loss of resources to one or both teams when a match is shortened, the D/L method adjusts the target score of the second team up or down.
External link
- The Duckworth-Lewis method (http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ABOUT_CRICKET/RAIN_RULES/DUCKWORTH_LEWIS_2002.html)
Reference
- Duckworth, FC & Lewis, AJ "A fair method of resetting the target in interrupted one-day cricket matches" Journal of the Operational Research Society, (Mar 1998) Volume 49, No. 3 pp 220-227