ICC pays final respect to the DLS system co-founder Tony Lewis

The International Cricket Council (ICC) came forward to pay their last respects to Tony Lewis, one of the men behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used in weather-affected limited-overs cricket matches. He passed away at the age of 78 on Wednesday. 

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'ICC expresses its sadness'

Taking to the micro-blogging site, the governing body of world cricket expressed its sadness at the death of mathematician Tony Lewis who had co-developed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system of calculating target scores in rain-affected limited-overs matches.

Even the netizens came forward and paid tribute to the late mathematician. 

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The Duckworth-Lewis method

The big difference between Duckworth-Lewis and previous methods was that it gave credit to sides defending a target for taking wickets as well as chasing sides for scoring runs. Significantly, this meant the target could be adjusted proportionately in the event of more than one stoppage. An enduring criticism of the system is that it is difficult to understand without having access to a chart that shows where teams need to be over by over, for however many wickets they have lost.

But the sight of a D/L target soon became a familiar feature on cricket scoreboards around the world. Several sides, however, have still confused the target needed to tie with the total they require to win, with co-hosts South Africa being knocked out of the 2003 World Cup when they made this mistake against Sri Lanka in Durban. The formula has also been criticised for not being suited to Twenty20 matches, cricket's shortest format, which came into being after Duckworth-Lewis was established. No alternative method, however, has yet found favour with the ICC. 

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(With PTI Inputs)