Why the target for South Africa was revised despite Pakistan getting bowled out

Misbah-ul-Haq was the top scorer for Pakistan

There have been a lot of question marks over the years regarding the Duckworth-Lewis method and although a slightly modified method (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern) is in use at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, confusion still reigns.

In the Pakistan vs South Africa match, the Proteas were set a revised total of 232 in 47 overs despite Pakistan being bowled out for 222 in a rain-curtailed innings at Eden Park, Auckland. A lot of people were left confused by the situation as they felt the total shouldn’t have been revised as Pakistan were bowled out.

Sorry for the misinterpretation of the D/L rule. Were given to believe what we said on air. Difference isn't huge but is an addition anyway

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 7, 2015

The D/L/S method, though, doesn’t consider a team getting bowled out and sets revised targets during the rain interval and not at the end of the innings. It takes into account only the number of runs and wickets at the start of play after the rain delay.

Hence, it didn’t matter how many wickets Pakistan lost after the rain interval. Even if they had ended the innings on 222/5, the target for South Africa would have still been 232.

The target is usually increased in the second innings when the first innings is interrupted by rain because the team batting first are likely to have played at a slower rate thinking they have 50 overs to play.