Educational estimate, not an official DLS target. This tool uses selected rows from the historical D/L Standard Edition table with interpolation. It models one reduction in Team 2’s overs after an uninterrupted first innings. For a match, follow the officials’ target and the competition rules.
DLS Target Calculator
Explore one rain interruption with a historical D/L approximation
Rain removes scoring opportunities, not just minutes. Use this example calculator to see how lost overs and wickets at the interruption affect an estimated target. All five fields refer to the same match and one interruption.
Final first-innings runs. Team 1 must not have lost overs to an interruption.
Original overs per side, up to 50. Use cricket notation, such as 20 or 50.
New total innings limit, including overs already faced; not just the overs left.
Overs completed when rain stopped play. Use 0 before the chase starts.
Wickets down at that stoppage, from 0 to 9. Use 0 before the chase starts.
The estimate is a total innings target, not additional runs needed. It does not establish a match result or replace an official par-score sheet.
Enter Team 1’s final runs and the overs per side agreed at the start of the match. This estimate assumes Team 1’s innings was not shortened by an interruption.
Enter Team 2’s new total overs allocation, including overs already faced. For example, if 12 overs are complete and 18 remain, enter 30, not 18.
Enter Team 2’s overs faced and wickets lost when the single interruption began. Use 0 for both if the chase has not started. Enter 12.3 for 12 overs and 3 legal balls.
Use this form for one reduction from the original innings limit. It cannot combine earlier reductions, Team 1 interruptions or special penalty adjustments.
Select Calculate Target to see estimated resources, par and the total target. Subtract the current chase score yourself to find runs needed. Copy results copies the figures; Reset restores the starting fields.
Formula: Estimated par = round down [Team 1 runs × (R2 ÷ R1)]
Estimated target = Estimated par + 1 run
Why the overs ratio alone is not enough
Imagine being told before batting that you have 15 overs instead of 20. You still have all your wickets, so you can plan a shorter innings from the first ball. Losing five overs after the chase is underway is a different situation: some scoring opportunities have already been used, and the wickets left matter. A simple cut of 25% from the target treats those situations as identical.
Resource-based methods account for both overs remaining and wickets lost. The official Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method is implemented through the software specified for the competition. The historical Duckworth–Lewis Standard Edition table is useful for explaining the idea, but it is not the current DLS model. This page uses that older table only as a teaching approximation.
The estimator assumes the teams originally had the same overs allocation, Team 1 had no interruption, and Team 2 loses overs once. It includes a delay before Team 2 begins. It cannot reconstruct multiple stoppages, a disrupted first innings or separate penalty adjustments from these five inputs.
Example: the chase is shortened before it starts
In this fictional example, Team 1 scores 250 in an uninterrupted 50-over innings. Rain reduces Team 2’s allocation to 40 overs before its first ball. Enter 250, 50, 40, 0 and 0 in the five fields.
| Step | Value in this teaching model |
|---|---|
| First-innings resource R1 | 100.0% |
| Chasing resource R2 | 89.3% |
| Unrounded scaled score | 250 × 89.3 ÷ 100 = 223.25 |
| Estimated par | 223 |
| Estimated total target | 224 |
The target is the next whole run above the unrounded scaled score. Rounding 223.25 up first and then adding one would incorrectly produce 225. Here, the par is 223 and the winning target is 224 within the example model; neither number should be substituted for an official match announcement.
The overs allocation also matters when the original match is shorter. For a fictional 20-over innings of 160 followed by a 15-over chase, the table gives starting resources of 56.6% and 45.2%. The ratio is 45.2 ÷ 56.6, producing an estimated target of 128. The 56.6% is measured against the table’s 50-over baseline; it does not mean a T20 team starts with only part of its own innings available.
Example: preserve the resources already used
Now suppose Team 1 made 250 in 50 overs and the chase stops after 20 overs with two wickets down. Ten overs are removed, leaving Team 2 a revised total allocation of 40 overs. There were 30 overs left before the delay and there will be 20 left afterwards. Enter 250, 50, 40, 20 and 2.
| Quantity | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Resources before the interruption | 30 overs left, 2 down: 67.3% |
| Resources after the interruption | 20 overs left, 2 down: 52.4% |
| Resources lost to the delay | 67.3 − 52.4 = 14.9 percentage points |
| Total resources available to Team 2 | 100 − 14.9 = 85.1% |
| Estimated par and total target | 250 × 85.1 ÷ 100 = 212.75; par 212, target 213 |
The crucial step is subtracting the lost resources from the original allocation. Using only the 52.4% remaining after the interruption would forget that Team 2 already had 20 overs of batting opportunity. R2 describes resources available across the innings, not just what is left to use.
If Team 2’s actual score at this fictional stoppage were 90, the model target of 213 would leave 123 more runs from 20 overs. The current chase score is not an input here, so the estimator will not perform that subtraction or say which team is ahead.
Once officials announce the actual target, use that number for the match. You can then enter runs still needed and overs remaining into the required run rate calculation to describe the pace needed.
A target to chase and a par at a stoppage are different checkpoints
A revised target tells the chasing side the total it must reach within its revised allocation. A par score used when play cannot resume relates to the exact stoppage point. A target for a planned 40-over chase cannot simply be treated as the par after 20 overs.
For a one-interruption teaching example where no further play is possible, setting the revised total allocation equal to the overs already faced removes all remaining resources. The resulting estimated par concerns that checkpoint. However, the calculator does not check minimum play requirements, compare the current score or determine the official result.
Avoid treating a rain delay as an automatic result. Officials must establish whether play can resume, how many overs are available and which competition rules apply. Match-specific requirements and exceptions belong to those rules, not to a universal “five overs is enough” statement.
What the estimate includes—and what it leaves out
The resource lookup uses the published 2002 D/L Standard Edition values at 0, 5, 10 and subsequent five-over intervals through 50 overs. Between those rows, it interpolates in a straight line for the selected wickets-lost column. That makes the calculation an approximation even to the historical table; it is not a reproduction of the full ball-by-ball tables.
For the supported scenario, R1 is the resource value for the original innings length with no wickets lost. The resource loss is the difference between the before-delay and after-delay lookups at the same wicket count. R2 is R1 minus that loss. The estimator divides Team 1’s score in the ratio R2/R1, rounds down for par, then adds one for the target.
As a useful check, if no overs are removed, no resources are lost and the target remains Team 1’s score plus one. Changing the wickets at a stoppage must not change that unchanged-allocation target. Wickets influence the value of overs removed, rather than causing the whole innings to be recalculated from resources still unused.
Inputs use six-ball cricket notation. For example, 12.3 means 75 balls. The revised total cannot exceed the original limit or be less than the overs already faced. Scores must be whole non-negative runs, and wickets must be whole numbers from 0 to 9. This page does not model an all-out chase.
The resource percentages are displayed to one decimal place; intermediate calculations retain their precision. Result overs are shown in cricket notation. When saving a result, retain its educational-estimate label and the interruption inputs so the number has enough context to be checked.
Questions about rain-adjusted targets
Is this an official DLS calculator?
No. This page demonstrates resource-based target adjustment with selected rows from the published 2002 D/L Standard Edition table and interpolation. It is not the current ICC DLS software. Use the target supplied by the match officials for actual play.
Does “overs available” mean overs remaining?
No. Enter the revised total innings limit. If Team 2 has faced 12 overs and is allowed another 18, its total allocation is 30 overs. The calculator subtracts the overs already faced to find how much play remains after the interruption.
Why is Team 2’s current score not an input?
The supported calculation estimates a total target from Team 1’s score and the resources available to the chase. It does not calculate runs still needed or declare a winner. Once an official target is known, subtract Team 2’s current score from it to find the remaining task.
Can I enter a second rain interruption?
Not reliably. Each interruption loses resources at a particular number of wickets and overs remaining. This form records only one such event. Replacing the first interruption with the latest figures loses the earlier history; adding all lost overs together does not reconstruct it.
What if Team 1 was interrupted?
That scenario is outside this form. Team 1’s available resources would also need adjustment using its interruption history. Entering only the shortened first-innings overs or changing Team 1’s score cannot supply the missing information.
Can a match be decided after five overs?
The competition’s playing conditions decide whether enough play has occurred for a result, including any exceptions or special requirements for knockout matches. This estimator does not enforce minimum-overs rules. A number appearing in the result does not establish that the match has a valid result.
What do I enter for a partial over?
Use cricket notation with one ball digit from 0 to 5: 12.3 is 75 legal balls, not 12.3 decimal overs. After six legal balls, advance to the next whole over. The form accepts innings limits up to 50 overs and wickets lost from 0 to 9.
Why can the displayed percentages give a slightly different answer by hand?
Resource values are displayed to one decimal place, but the calculation retains the full interpolated values. The integer par is rounded down from the unrounded calculation and the target is one run higher. Recalculating from rounded display values can change a result close to a whole-run boundary.
Sources, examples and corrections
Prepared by CricketCals. All match situations above are fictional examples of this page’s model. The ICC DLS resource page distinguishes the official method from the historical materials it publishes. This guide references the ICC-hosted D/L methodology document and its 2002 Standard Edition resource table. These sources do not certify this estimator for match use.
The arithmetic runs in your browser; see the privacy policy for site advertising and other data practices. If an example or output needs correction, send all five input values and your expected result through the contact page.