Dilruwan Jayarathne
The World Cup semi-finals between England and South Africa in 1992 became a talking point of the cricket world due to an ‘unfair’ rain related rule that cost South Africa a spot in the finals of the World Cup.
South Africa’s task of gathering 22 runs from 13 balls was reduced after a brief spell of rain to 21 runs required off a single delivery in this World Cup semi-final game. The game became a farce and the subject of ridicule and parody.
ICC then requested two British mathematicians Frank Duckworth and Tony Lewis to design a reliable model to be used in rain affected one day cricket matches. Their proposal was accepted and though later somewhat modified by Steve Stern it is now used as the ‘Duckworth-Lewis’ method.