Explanation

Tony Lewis, a career academic who was one of the men behind the development of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, died aged 78 on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. “Tony, alongside fellow mathematician Frank Duckworth, devised the Duckworth-Lewis method which was introduced in 1997 and adopted officially by the ICC (International Cricket Council) in 1999. “Renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in 2014, the mathematical formula continues to be used in rain reduced limited overs cricket games across the globe.” Tony Lewis was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his contributions to cricket and the field of mathematics in 2011. The DL method came into existence in 1997 and was adopted by the International Cricket Council in 1999. The method was devised after stern reactions to the World Cup semi-final in 1992 wherein South Africa were undone by a farcical target calculation in a rain-affected encounter. South Africa needed 23 off 13 balls to reach the final but after a rain delay, they were asked to score 22 off just 1 ball. A gutted South African side exited the tournament and England went on to play the final. The DL method was updated to DLS method in 2014 by the ICC. In 2018, the ICC released an updated version of DLS method. This is the third version but second update of the DLS System and has been carried out following a detailed ball-by-ball analysis of scoring patterns, including in the Powerplays, in all limited overs internationals played during the previous four years.