Question 1

What is the Duckworth-Lewis method in cricket?

Accepted Answer

A mathematical method for resetting the target in a rain-affected limited-overs match, so that a side batting second is asked for a fair score given the overs and wickets it actually has.

The problem it solves is that overs and wickets are not independent. A team chasing 250 from 50 overs is in a very different position from one chasing 250 from 25 overs — but also from one chasing it with only three wickets left. Simply scaling the target by overs, which is what earlier methods did, ignores wickets entirely and produces absurd results.

The method, devised by statisticians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis, treats a batting side as having two **resources**: overs remaining and wickets in hand. A published table gives the percentage of total resources available for any combination. If a team loses resources to an interruption, the target is adjusted in proportion to the resources each side actually had.

It replaced methods that produced notorious outcomes — most famously the 1992 World Cup semi-final, where rain left South Africa needing 21 runs from one ball.

The current version is the **Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method**, updated by Steven Stern in 2014 to reflect the higher scoring rates of modern cricket, particularly in Twenty20.

A revised target is usually a run higher than the par score, which is why chases often end on figures like *162 from 20 overs* rather than round numbers.

A minimum number of overs must be bowled for a result — usually 20 per side in a one-day match, five in Twenty20 — otherwise the match is abandoned rather than decided.

Question 2

What is the LBW rule in cricket?

Accepted Answer

Leg before wicket dismisses a batter whose body — usually the pad — stops a ball that would otherwise have hit the stumps. Without it, batters could simply stand in front of the wicket and block

Question 3

Why does cricket have Test, ODI and T20 formats?

Accepted Answer

Because the sport kept adding shorter versions without abandoning the long one, and each format now serves a different audience. Test cricket is the original form and the longest. Matches last up to

Question 4

Why does the toss matter so much in cricket?

Accepted Answer

Because cricket is almost unique among major sports in that the surface changes substantially during the match, and the toss determines who faces which version of it. What the toss decides. The

Question 5

Where does the term hat-trick come from?

Accepted Answer

From cricket, and from an actual hat. When a bowler took three wickets with three consecutive deliveries, it was traditional for a collection to be taken up or for the club to present him with a hat

Question 6

What is a no-ball in cricket?

Accepted Answer

A no-ball is an illegal delivery. The batting side is awarded a run, the ball does not count towards the over, and the batter cannot be dismissed by most methods from it. There are several ways to

Question 7

How do the FIFA world rankings work?

Accepted Answer

Since 2018, FIFA has used a version of the Elo rating system, replacing an earlier points-averaging method that was widely criticised. How Elo works. Every team has a rating. After each match, points

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