Rain Rules in Cricket: DLS, Reserve Days and Abandoned Matches

Rain has been interfering with cricket since the game began. Unlike most other major sports, where rain is merely an inconvenience that delays play for a short time, rain in cricket can fundamentally alter the nature of a match — the number of overs bowled, the target a team needs to chase, or whether a result is possible at all.

The rules cricket uses to manage rain interruptions are among its most complex: the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method for calculating revised targets, reserve days for major tournaments, and minimum over requirements for a result. This guide explains all of them.

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When Does Rain Stop Play?

The decision to take players off the field due to rain rests with the on-field umpires, not the captains. Under the Laws of Cricket, umpires have a duty to ensure that play is conducted safely and under conditions that do not unfairly disadvantage either team. Rain affects those conditions in two primary ways:

Wet outfield: A wet outfield makes fielding dangerous — players can slip and injure themselves when diving or running at speed. It also affects the ball, as a wet ball loses its condition quickly and is harder for bowlers to control.

Wet pitch: A wet pitch significantly affects how the ball behaves — it tends to skid, stop, or deviate unpredictably, making batting much harder and potentially creating an unfair surface that benefits one side disproportionately.

Umpires consult with each other and may consult with ground staff about drainage rates and outfield conditions. They use their discretion based on the amount of rain falling, its intensity, how quickly it is draining from the outfield, and the state of the pitch covering.

Players and captains can request that umpires assess conditions, but they cannot compel the umpires to either stay on or go off. The umpires' decision is final and cannot be challenged.

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The Umpires Decision-Making Process

When it begins to rain during play, the sequence is typically:

1. Minor drizzle: Umpires monitor and continue play, perhaps checking with players about their comfort level
2. Heavier rain: Umpires stop play and consult — players go to the boundary edge or dressing rooms while umpires assess
3. Decision to go off: Umpires signal to bring the covers on and players leave the field
4. Assessment period: Ground staff cover the pitch and outfield as required; umpires monitor conditions
5. Decision to resume: Umpires inspect the outfield and pitch, check drainage, and ultimately decide when and whether to resume
6. Resumption or abandonment: Play resumes when conditions are safe, or the match is abandoned if conditions cannot recover within the scheduled time

In international cricket, the ICC Match Referee oversees the overall operation of the match and can advise ground management, but the playing conditions decisions on any given day remain the umpires' responsibility.

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DLS Method for Revised Targets

When rain interrupts a limited-overs match (ODI or T20) and overs are lost, the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method is used to calculate a fair revised target for the team batting second — or, if rain interrupts the first innings, to set a fair target after both innings are affected.

The DLS method was developed by statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis and later refined by Steven Stern. It replaced the older Average Run Rate (ARR) method, which produced notoriously unfair revised targets — the most famous being the 1992 Cricket World Cup semi-final where South Africa needed 22 runs off 1 ball to win under the old ARR rules when rain reduced their chase.

How DLS works conceptually:

DLS assigns every batting team a "resources" percentage based on how many overs and wickets they have remaining. A team with all 10 wickets in hand and 50 overs to bat has 100% of resources. As wickets fall and overs are used, their remaining resources percentage decreases. The rate at which resources decrease accelerates as wickets fall — this reflects the reality that losing wickets is much more damaging late in an innings than early.

When overs are lost to rain, the DLS method calculates how many resources the affected team has lost and adjusts the target proportionally. The exact calculation requires reference to published DLS tables (or software), which contain resource percentages for every combination of overs remaining and wickets in hand.

When is DLS applied?

• If rain interrupts the first innings and reduces overs available, DLS can set a par score or adjust the target
• If rain interrupts the second innings and reduces the chasing team's overs, DLS recalculates the target they need in their remaining overs
• If rain interrupts between innings, DLS recalculates the target the second team needs based on their reduced over allocation

For the full DLS explanation and an interactive tool, see /blog/dls-method-cricket-explained and our DLS Calculator.

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Reserve Days in ICC Tournaments

In ICC knockout tournaments — the World Cup, the Champions Trophy, the World Test Championship Final, and the ICC T20 World Cup knockout stages — a reserve day is built into the schedule for matches that cannot be completed within the originally scheduled day(s).

A reserve day is a fully allocated additional day of play, scheduled the day after the original match day. It exists specifically to allow completion of a match that was prevented from reaching a result by weather. Reserve days are not used routinely — they are held in reserve until a match needs them.

How reserve days work:

• If a match is abandoned or curtailed before a result is achievable, the match continues the next day from exactly where it stopped (or from the beginning if no overs were bowled)
• Players return at the same time, the scoreline carries over, and the same playing conditions apply
• If conditions are fine on the original day and the match is completed, the reserve day is simply not used

Reserve days are only available for certain matches in ICC tournaments. Typically, knockout matches (quarter-finals, semi-finals, finals) have reserve days. Group stage matches generally do not — if a group stage match is washed out, it is abandoned and both teams share the points (in a round-robin context).

The 2021 WTC Final and reserve day usage:

The first ICC World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand in Southampton in 2021 was severely affected by rain, with significant playing time lost across multiple days. The reserve day was used, and the match was eventually completed — New Zealand winning by eight wickets — with the reserve day enabling the result. Without it, the match would have been declared a draw and both teams would have been joint champions.

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Rain Rules in IPL

The IPL uses the DLS method for rain-affected matches, consistent with the standard international T20 rules. However, the IPL has some specific provisions:

Minimum overs for a result in IPL: For a match to produce a result rather than being abandoned as a no-result, the second team must face a minimum of 5 overs in their innings. If rain prevents the second team from batting at least 5 overs, the match is declared a no-result.

D/L target setting: When rain reduces the first innings, the DLS method is applied to set the target. When rain reduces the second innings, the DLS method recalculates the target. IPL uses standardised DLS software (the same as used in international cricket).

No reserve days in group stage: IPL group stage matches that are washed out or rained off are recorded as no-results. Both teams receive one point each (the same as a tie). No reserve day is available for group stage matches. This can have significant implications for playoff qualification, as several IPL seasons have seen key group stage matches washed out with playoff spots hinging on those results.

Playoff matches: IPL playoff matches (Qualifier 1, Eliminator, Qualifier 2, and the Final) do have reserve days built in to ensure a result can be achieved. However, even with a reserve day, if conditions prevent a minimum of 5 overs being bowled in both teams' innings across both days, the team that finished higher in the league table advances or is declared champion.

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What Happens if a Match Cannot Be Completed?

If all rain provisions are exhausted — the scheduled match day is over, the reserve day (if available) is also washed out — and the match cannot be completed:

In group stage cricket (Tests, ODIs, T20Is, IPL group stage): The match is recorded as a draw (Tests) or a no-result/abandoned (limited-overs). Both teams receive appropriate points — typically one point each in bilateral series where points are awarded, or shared points in tournament round-robins.

In knockout matches without a reserve day: The team that finished higher in the tournament standings advances. This is a standing rule in most ICC tournaments for group stage, but knockout matches are always given a reserve day to avoid this scenario.

In knockout matches with a reserve day used and still no result: The team that finished higher in the group stage (or the defending champion in the case of a final) advances or is declared champion. This is an extreme provision that has rarely been needed.

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Minimum Overs Required for a Result

Each format has a minimum number of overs that must be bowled in the second innings for a match to produce a result rather than being abandoned:

Format	Minimum overs (2nd team) for a result
Test matches	No minimum — draws are valid results
ODIs (50 over)	20 overs
T20Is	5 overs
IPL	5 overs
ICC T20 World Cup	10 overs (super 8s and later)

In Tests, there is no minimum over requirement — the match can end at any stage in any innings for any result (win, loss, draw). A Test match that loses three days to rain and plays only one day can still produce a draw. Draws in Tests are legitimate results.

In ODIs, if the team batting second has faced fewer than 20 overs when rain ends their innings, no result is possible (unless the DLS target was reached within those overs). The match is abandoned.

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Famous Rain-Affected Matches

1992 Cricket World Cup Semi-Final — South Africa vs England: South Africa needed 22 runs off 13 balls when rain interrupted play. When the match resumed with only 1 ball remaining, the ARR method — the pre-DLS system — revised South Africa's target to 22 off 1 ball, effectively making it impossible. South Africa needed 21 runs off 1 ball — a calculation that was widely ridiculed as absurd. This match is the primary reason DLS replaced the ARR method.

2004 Champions Trophy — Sri Lanka vs Australia: A key group stage match that was washed out affected qualification from the group, demonstrating the significant tournament implications of group stage matches having no reserve days.

2021 WTC Final — India vs New Zealand (Southampton): Rain wiped out the first two days of the match almost entirely, forcing use of the reserve day and leaving India's batsmen with inadequate preparation time for the conditions. New Zealand won comprehensively. The match highlighted both the value of reserve days (a result was possible) and the criticism that multi-day rain delays inherently disadvantage the visiting team.

2016 ICC T20 World Cup Final — West Indies vs England (Eden Gardens): Rain delayed the final significantly, reducing it to a 19-over match. West Indies famously won from the last four balls, with Carlos Brathwaite hitting four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes. The DLS adjustment had set the target correctly, and the result was not disputed — but the reduced format clearly affected the match dynamics significantly.

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Quick Reference Table

Rule	Detail
Who decides to go off for rain?	On-field umpires
DLS method used from?	1999 onwards (replacing ARR)
Minimum ODI overs for result	20 overs (second team)
Minimum T20 overs for result	5 overs (second team)
IPL minimum overs	5 overs (second team)
Tests — rain result	Draw (no minimum overs needed)
Reserve days — when available?	ICC knockout matches
IPL group stage reserve day?	No
IPL playoff reserve day?	Yes
Tiebreaker if no result in ICC knockout	Higher group stage finisher advances
Rain delay decision — captain's call?	No — umpires only

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can a captain take his team off the field when it starts raining without the umpires' permission? No. Players cannot unilaterally leave the field during a rain delay without the umpires' decision. If a captain attempts to lead their team off the field without umpire approval, the umpires can rule the match forfeited. In practice, this never happens in professional cricket, as all teams follow the umpires' lead.

What happens if it rains during a Super Over? If rain interrupts a Super Over before the minimum deliveries are bowled, play is suspended. If the Super Over cannot be completed, tournament regulations dictate what happens — typically the team that finished higher in the group stage or the team with the higher score at the interruption advances. This is an extremely rare scenario.

Does the DLS target ever favour the batting team? The DLS method is designed to be neutral — it calculates a fair target based on resources. However, in low-scoring conditions or on pitches that deteriorate significantly, a DLS target set early in the second innings can sometimes appear harsh on the chasing team if the pitch worsened during the delay. The method does not account for pitch condition changes, only resources (overs and wickets).

Can umpires resume play during a rain shower? Yes, if the rain is light enough that umpires determine it does not pose a safety risk or unfairly disadvantage either team, they may continue play. This is sometimes called "playing through light drizzle." The determination is entirely the umpires' call.

What is the "bad light" rule and is it different from rain? Bad light is a separate provision from rain. Umpires can offer batsmen the choice to leave the field when light falls below a safe standard — typically measured against a light meter. Unlike rain, for bad light the batsmen (not the captain, not the fielding side) can choose whether to go off or continue. If batsmen decline the offer of bad light, play continues. Bad light rules do not apply to the fielding side.

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Rain rules in cricket are among the most practically important for fans to understand — they directly affect match results in real time, and the DLS method in particular produces revised targets that can seem confusing without the underlying logic. Knowing when play must stop, what minimum overs are needed, and how reserve days function gives you a comprehensive picture of how cricket manages one of the game's oldest challenges.

For more in the series, visit /category/cricket-rules.

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Sources:

• MCC Laws of Cricket — Law 2 (Umpires), Law 17 (Practice on the Field)
• ICC Playing Conditions — Weather and Light
• ESPNcricinfo — DLS Method Explained