Analysis of D/L method used for target resetting in interrupted limited over cricket matches

Unlike test cricket where a game can be played for five days, limited over cricket games were designed to attract more spectators by completing the game after several hours of starting the play. As such, a decision has to be reached within this allocated time of the game and the game cannot be postponed to another day if interruptions occur such as due to rain. Therefore, if interruptions occur, then the number of balls allocated to one or both teams have to be reduced and the target score should be adjusted. In such situations, the target score is currently calculated using the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method. It has been reported that the D/L method delivers unrealistic target scores for certain cases exhibiting its unfairness. In this paper, we analyse the D/L method using graphical and mathematical methods and find out the root cause of this unfairness. We conclude that a better approach should be taken to reset the target score because of this intrinsic problem of the D/L method.