Rain-Shortened Matches: Setting Fair Revised Targets

Decide before the toss, not in the rain

The worst rain arguments happen when nobody agreed anything in advance. One captain wants a simple run rate target, the other wants to call it a no-result, and the umpires are left guessing. Ten minutes before the start is the time to settle it.

Agree three things with both captains and the umpires present: the minimum number of overs each side must face for a result, the method for setting a revised target, and what happens if play cannot restart at all. Write them on the scoresheet. If you run a league, put them in the playing conditions so every match uses the same rules.

For reference, men's T20 internationals need at least five overs per side for a result and men's ODIs need at least 20. For a local 20-over game, five overs a side is a sensible minimum. For shorter formats like eight or ten overs, many leagues use half the scheduled overs.

How DLS thinks about the problem

The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, used in professional cricket, starts from one idea. A batting side has two resources: overs left to face and wickets left to lose. A team with 10 overs and 10 wickets left can score much more than a team with 10 overs and 2 wickets left. Any fair target has to account for both.

When overs are lost, DLS works out what percentage of their combined resources each side had available, then scales the target up or down. That is why a DLS target can look strange at first. A side that lost overs early, with all wickets in hand, has lost a different amount of resource from a side that lost overs late with eight wickets down.

The official percentages come from published tables and licensed software, and they are updated from time to time. Making up your own version of those figures gives you a target that looks official but is not. For local cricket, it is more honest to use one of the simpler methods below, accept its known weaknesses, and apply it consistently.

Method 1: average run rate

This is the simplest method and the one most local teams know. Work out the first innings run rate, multiply it by the overs the chasing side will now get, round down, and add one. Everyone can check it on a phone calculator.

Its big weakness is that it ignores wickets. A side chasing over 15 overs with all ten wickets has more resource per over than the side that batted first over 20 overs, because it can afford to attack. So this method usually makes the chase easier than it should be, especially when the reduction is large.

Method 2: most productive overs

This method looks at the first innings over by over. If Team B now gets 15 overs, take the 15 highest-scoring overs from Team A's innings and add them up. That total is the par score, and the target is one more.

The idea is that the side batting first would have scored at least that many in its best 15 overs. The weakness is the opposite of the run rate method. It removes only the quiet overs, so the chasing side ends up with a stiff target. It also needs an accurate over-by-over record, which is easy with a scoring app or a well-kept scorebook and difficult without one.

Method 3: agree a compromise par table

Because the two simple methods err in opposite directions, many club and school leagues use a compromise. One clean option: take the par from each method, average them, round down, and add one. It is still easy to check, and the bias in each method partly cancels out.

The table below shows the three methods side by side for the same first innings. Notice how the gap between the run rate and most productive overs targets grows as more overs are lost. That is exactly when a fair method matters most.

Whatever you choose, it is a local agreement, not an official calculation. Say so on the scoresheet, apply it every time, and review it at the end of the season if it keeps producing lopsided results.

When rain stops play during the chase

If the chasing side has faced the minimum overs and play cannot restart, you need a par score at the point of the stoppage. Compare the chasing side's score with the par. If it is ahead, it wins. If it is level, the match is tied. If it is behind, the side batting first wins.

Using the average run rate method, the par is the first innings run rate multiplied by the overs the chasing side has faced. This is quick, but it gives no credit for wickets in hand, so a side that has played safely with eight wickets left is judged the same as one that has lost seven. If your league prefers, the compromise approach above can be applied at the stoppage point in the same way, using the most productive overs up to that number of overs.

A checklist for organisers

Most rain problems are really paperwork problems. A short, written set of conditions stops arguments and helps the scorers apply the rule calmly. It also protects the umpires, who can point to something both captains agreed.

Keep a ball-by-ball or over-by-over record of both innings. Cricket Score Counter records each delivery, so the run rate and the runs in each over are there if you need them for a revised target. Paper scorers should total every over as they go.

1. Agree the minimum overs per side for a result.
2. Agree the revised target method and write it on the scoresheet.
3. Agree how lost time converts into lost overs, for example one over for every four minutes lost.
4. Keep accurate over-by-over totals for both innings.
5. When play stops, record the exact score, wickets and balls bowled.
6. Calculate the revised target or par, and have both captains check it before play resumes.