DLS changes the chase only when an interruption costs overs.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the International Cricket Council Men's Standard ODI and Men's T20I Playing Conditions effective July 2025, especially clauses 13.7, 16.1 and 16.4. Those are the current standard men's international documents listed by the ICC on 26 August 2026.

The calculation itself uses the Stern Edition and the latest version of the ICC Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Calculator distributed by the ICC. The ICC's public methodology does not identify that current software by a release number or publish its full parameters. A commentator or unofficial app that names a numbered edition is therefore not the controlling source for an ICC match.

DLS is not an MCC Law and is not universal cricket law. Women's internationals, ICC events, domestic boards, franchise leagues, clubs, schools and junior competitions may appoint different minimums, reserve-day procedures, software or another rain rule.

A stoppage alone does not activate a recalculation

ICC clause 16.4.1 requires two things: play has been suspended after the match started, and the number of overs available to either team is then revised below the original allocation. A shower that causes no loss of overs does not change the target. Nor does DLS itself decide how many overs are lost; the delayed-and-interrupted-match provisions in clause 13.7 determine the revised allocation first.

The suspension need not occur during the chase. DLS can be required when:

• Team 1's innings loses overs or ends prematurely.
• The interval is extended and Team 2 starts with fewer overs.
• Team 2 loses overs after its innings has begun.
• There are several stoppages, with resources lost accumulated after each one.

If both sides are given the same shorter allocation before the match begins, there has been no post-start reduction under clause 16.4.1. The ordinary target remains one more than Team 1's total unless a later interruption changes the allocation.

Overs and wickets have value together

DLS treats Team 1 and Team 2 as having percentages of a full scoring resource. The value lost at a stoppage depends on the balls that will no longer be available and the wickets already down at that point. Ten overs with eight wickets in hand offer more scoring capacity than ten overs with two wickets in hand; ten wickets in hand have little value if almost no balls remain.

Officials record the state at the suspension and the state on resumption: overs or balls left, wickets lost, and the new innings length. The difference is the resource lost. Multiple losses are accumulated. For a 50-over innings with ten wickets available at the start, the starting resource is 100%; a shorter format begins with less than 100% of that 50-over benchmark, not a simple fraction based only on overs.

A shortened Team 1 innings can raise the target

Suppose Team 1 starts expecting 50 overs, bats cautiously, and then loses its last ten overs. Team 2 may know from the first ball of its chase that it has only 40 overs and can pace its risk accordingly. Giving both teams 40 overs on the scorecard has not given them the same practical opportunity.

DLS accounts for the resources Team 1 unexpectedly lost. If Team 2 has more resource available for its chase than Team 1 ultimately had, the revised target can be higher than Team 1's score even where the teams receive the same number of overs. This is compensation for unequal resource opportunity, not a bonus for rain. If Team 1 was already nine wickets down when overs were removed, the target can instead fall because the lost overs had relatively little usable value.

Once Team 1 resumes after a stoppage, later wickets do not retrospectively change the resource loss already fixed at that resumption. Team 1 simply scores as many runs as it can from the revised allocation.

The chase score does not set its own new target

When Team 2 loses overs, its revised target reflects the resource removed at the interruption. For the same first-innings total, overs lost and wickets down, the target is not made higher merely because Team 2 had scored quickly before the stoppage, or lower because it had scored slowly. Current score tells whether Team 2 is ahead of or behind the resulting par; it is not a reward or punishment input that lets the chase alter its own target.

Wickets do matter. A stoppage with Team 2 at 100 for 1 and the same stoppage at 100 for 6 remove different amounts of usable resource. If play resumes, the newly announced target replaces the earlier target. A later reduction requires another calculation from the complete interruption history.

Target means win; par means tie

ICC clause 16.4.1 says the revised target is a whole number and one run less constitutes a tie. If the target after a reduction is 176, Team 2 wins the live chase on reaching 176; 175 is the tie score if its innings then finishes.

Under clause 16.4.2, a par score is used only when Team 2's innings is suspended and cannot resume. It is calculated for the exact instant of that suspension, including the overs faced and wickets lost. Team 2 above par wins by the difference in runs, level with par ties, and below par loses by the shortfall.

The format threshold still controls the result

Under ICC clauses 16.1.2–16.1.3 and 16.4.2:

• Men's standard ODI, effective July 2025: each team must have had the opportunity to bat for at least 20 overs.
• Men's standard T20I, effective July 2025: each team must have had the opportunity to bat for at least 5 overs.

“Opportunity” matters. Team 1 may be all out inside the minimum, or Team 2 may reach the winning score inside it; those are express exceptions. Otherwise, if rain ends a chase before the required opportunity exists, the match is No Result even if software can display a theoretical par score.

A tournament can raise the threshold. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 Playing Conditions, clauses 13.7.2 and 16.1.2–16.1.3, used five overs generally but ten overs for the semi-finals and final. Clause 16.4.2.1 retained generic five-over wording, so it had to be read with the tournament-specific ten-over result threshold: five overs alone could not constitute a knockout result.

A DLS tie follows the competition's tie-break rule

If a resumed chase reaches its target, the match ends and the ordinary result is stated by wickets in hand. If Team 2 uses its allocation or is all out one run short of the target, the scores are tied under the DLS condition. In the cited standard ICC men's ODI and T20I conditions, clause 16.3 then calls for a Super Over, with further Super Overs if needed and possible.

If the chase cannot resume and clause 16.4.2 decides the match against the par score, the winning margin is always stated in runs—even when Team 2 wins with wickets in hand—because the margin is the difference from par at abandonment.

Penalty runs can move the score or the schedule

Sections 4 and 6 of the ICC DLS methodology expressly apply to the Stern Edition:

• A penalty awarded to Team 1 while it bats is included in Team 1's score for later calculations.
• A penalty already awarded to Team 2 as the fielding side is placed on Team 2's score when its innings begins.
• A batting-side penalty during Team 2's innings advances Team 2's score; it does not itself trigger a new DLS calculation.
• A penalty awarded to Team 1 while Team 2 is batting raises Team 2's target and the entire par schedule by that amount.

The methodology also says slow-over-rate overs penalties do not change DLS calculations. Match sanctions and the decision to reduce an innings under clause 13.7 are separate questions.

Rain before Team 2 starts

Situation: in an ICC men's ODI under the July 2025 conditions, Team 1 completes 50 overs. Rain during the interval leaves Team 2 only 35 overs, and the official ICC calculator sets a target of 214.

Ruling: Team 2 needs 214 to win; 213 is the tie score. Dividing Team 1's total by 50 and multiplying by 35 is not the appointed method. The decisive facts are that the match was reduced after it started and Team 2 has fewer resources.

Above par when the chase is abandoned

Situation: in the same ruleset, rain ends Team 2's innings after 23 overs. The official DLS par score at the instant of suspension is 115, and Team 2 is 117 for 4.

Ruling: because the ODI 20-over minimum has been met, Team 2 wins by 2 runs under clause 16.4.2. It does not win by six wickets: an abandonment result is measured against par in runs.

Level with par is a tie, not a win

Situation: in an ICC men's T20I under the July 2025 conditions, Team 2 is 76 for 3 after 8 overs when play is abandoned. The official par score at that instant is 76.

Ruling: the match is tied, because the five-over minimum has been met and Team 2 is level with par. Under clause 16.3, the Super Over procedure applies if it can be played. Team 2 needed 77 to be ahead on abandonment.

A number exists but there is no result

Situation: an ICC men's standard T20I chase is abandoned after 4.2 overs. Team 2 has not reached an already achievable winning total and Team 1 was not all out inside five overs. A broadcast graphic shows Team 2 above a projected DLS par.

Ruling: No Result under clauses 16.1.2–16.1.3. The projection cannot replace the required five-over opportunity.

How to read a DLS situation

1. Name the competition and version. Find the appointed playing conditions, minimum overs, reserve-day rule and calculation edition.
2. Ask whether overs were actually reduced after the match started. Lost time without lost overs does not revise the target.
3. Separate allocation from calculation. Officials set the revised overs under the interruption rules; DLS then values the resources.
4. Record every stoppage. Use the overs or balls left and wickets down at suspension and resumption.
5. Identify the number shown. A target is the score to win after resumption; par is the score to tie if the chase ends now.
6. Check result eligibility. Apply the format or tournament minimum and its all-out or early-win exceptions.
7. Apply the correct outcome. Continue to the target, compare with par on abandonment, or declare No Result. Then apply any tie-break procedure.

What DLS does not do

• “Rain means DLS.” Not unless the appointed conditions use DLS and the interruption causes an overs reduction.
• “Same overs means the same target.” Not where Team 1 unexpectedly lost overs after pacing for a longer innings.
• “Wickets are deducted.” No. Wickets help value remaining resource; batters are not removed to balance lost overs.
• “Being ahead of par predicts the winner.” Par decides the result only if the chase cannot resume. DLS adjusts resources; it does not forecast the rest of a match.
• “Any online calculator is official.” ICC matches use the latest calculator distributed by the ICC. Club software is controlling only if that competition appoints it.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• International Cricket Council — Playing Conditions index — current-document index checked 26 August 2026.
• ICC — Men's Standard One-Day International Playing Conditions, effective July 2025 — clauses 13.7, 16.1, 16.3 and 16.4.
• ICC — Men's Twenty20 International Playing Conditions, effective July 2025 — clauses 13.7, 16.1, 16.3 and 16.4.
• ICC — Men's T20 World Cup 2026 Playing Conditions — clauses 13.7.2 and 16.1–16.4, including the ten-over semi-final and final threshold.
• ICC — Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rules hub — official index for the methodology, Standard Edition table and FAQ.
• ICC — Duckworth-Lewis methodology for recalculating a target, undated public document — opening Stern Edition instruction and sections 3–7 on interruptions, penalty runs, targets, par and result descriptions; the document says its detailed calculations describe the fallback Standard Edition.
• ICC — DLS Methodology Frequently Asked Questions, undated public document — questions 3–15 on resources, first-innings reductions, target versus par, editions and what the method does not predict.

Checked on 26 August 2026 against the official ICC documents above. The ICC standard men's ODI and T20I conditions effective July 2025 were still the current versions listed on that date. The public ICC DLS methodology requires the latest distributed calculator but does not state its release number, so this page does not assign one. Event, bilateral, domestic, franchise, age-grade and local conditions may change the minimum opportunity, reserve-day process, result treatment or permitted software; the conditions appointed for the match remain controlling.