---
title: "Why Can a DLS Target Be Higher Than the First Team’s Score?"  
description: "Why Can a DLS Target Be Higher Than the First Team’s Score?"  
author: "Hannah Morrison"  
published: 2026-10-18  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/117817/why-can-a-dls-target-be-higher-than-the-first-team-s-score  
category: "Mix Category"  
tags: ["cricket", "DLS Method", "Cricket Rules"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Why Can a DLS Target Be Higher Than the First Team’s Score?

I can follow a straightforward reduced-overs chase, but one situation still bothers me: rain interrupts the first innings, and the team batting second receives a revised target higher than the total actually scored.

For example, suppose a team starts expecting 50 overs, loses playing time midway through its innings, and finishes with only 35 overs available. The chasing side then knows from the start that it has 35 overs.

How does the **Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method** account for that difference in what the two teams knew when planning their innings? Where do wickets lost at the interruption enter the calculation? I don’t need the full tables—just an explanation of why comparing the final run totals alone can be misleading.


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/117817/why-can-a-dls-target-be-higher-than-the-first-team-s-score

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