From the iSport Cricket Paddock: iSporter Suraj Kori questions the compatibility of the Duckworth and Lewis method to a format like the Twenty20.
The T20 fever is hovering over everyones mind with the World Cup being played in West Indies! The enthusiasm though has somehow been reduced because of rain affecting most of the matches. But we cannot abandon every match hoping the next day it won’t rain or distribute the points equally. And in a tournament like World Cup there is no way a match can get postponed. So Franck Duckworth and Tony Lewis, two English statisticians who devised D/L method (named after them) to mathematically calculate the target score for team batting second in an ODI or T20 match is applied here.
D/L method was first used in international cricket in the second game of 1996-97 Zimbabwe vs England ODI series which Zimbabwe won by 7 runs. But formally it came to be adopted as the standard method of calculating target scores in rain affected one-day matches by ICC in 2001. For D/L method to be applicable in ODI each team has to play at least 20 overs and in T20 at least 5 overs.
The ‘best-scoring over’ method was used in the 1992 World Cup! The team severely affected by this was South Africa who had to score 21 runs from one ball. Prior to the rain interruption, South Africa needed 22 runs of 13 balls which was an achievable score. But due to rain the target was reduced by just one run with only one ball to play. The D/L method would have removed this flaw with 5 runs to win from the last ball. This would have made the match balanced and more exciting…
The D/L with all its positives has its negatives too! This method according to me is not apt for T20 which is completely different from ODI. The number of over are less, so players try to score on every ball and this might cost them their wicket. And losing wickets would directly affect the scoring rate and final score. It is being used in the current World Cup and the team that was affected by it was England. They made 191/5 in 20 over in a group stage match against West Indies. 191 is a good score on any pitch and would have been really difficult for West Indies to chase it. The rain interrupted the play and the target was reduced to 60 runs of 6 overs which is again an achievable score.
Gayle and Chanderpaul came on the ground with a clear mindset! They had to score just 60 runs and with Gayle on the pitch scoring at 10 runs per over is no big task… West Indies won the match with one ball to spare but lost 2 wickets in the process. But had the match been played for complete 20 overs, West Indies would have had to keep their wickets intact. And with D/L method’s application in the match this was not an issue of concern for them.
No doubt, D/L method is good for an ODI but there is a need for some alteration in its application for the T20 format. The number of overs are already few and rain-stoppage makes them even less which gives an advantage to the team batting second. If ICC sticks to this format without any change then the day is not far away when rain would decide the winner of a big tournament like World Cup! The toss here would play a crucial role as the captain winning the toss would elect to field first and the match is already half won...
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Uttaresh Iyer
said:
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... well said suraj... but there isn't any other method which would be applicable for this format..a feasible method has to be introduced for this format specially...reading your views on the effectiveness of DL in T20 it seems like you are against it in at20 game.but it has to be implemented to get some result which is better than an abandoned game.. what do u think of it??? |
Kunal Shah
said:
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... I think its too complex and in a simple sport like cricket - one should get really simple formluae to solve this! |
Suraj Kori
said:
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... @ Uttaresh I am not completely against D/L method. I am just syaing that it needs some alteration to be applicable for T20 format. ODI and T20 are completely different. So, why shouldnt there be different methods to calculate the resluts? @ Neo Yes, it is complex. I want a simple formulae which doesnt favor the team batting second... |
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