Presciently dubbed the ‘Group of Death’ prior to the start of the tournament, Group A heads into its final round of matches with no team still assured of a semifinal berth.
Topping the group and with a foot already in the last four stage are Mumbai Indians. Next up is Australian side New South Wales Blues with four points, followed by Cobras with three.
T&T, who claimed the giant scalp of local favourites and defending champions Chennai Super Kings on Sunday night, are in fourth with two points.
The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK, also on two points, bring up the rear by virtue of an inferior net run rate.
If the Cobras, who have only one win against New South Wales and a no result so far, win on Tuesday they will move to five points and may eke their way to the semis by virtue of a better net run rate than Mumbai Indians, who despite being group leaders have the worst net run rate among the lot.
NSW too will progress as group winners with six points if the Australian side win in their crucial match against CSK.
However, a defeat to either Cobras or NSW, will ensure Mumbai’s progression to the semifinal, while forming a three-way tie among NSW, CSK and T&T -- all with four points each, meaning the calculation will come down to run rate.
T&T, on the other hand, will have to beat Cobras and hope NSW lose to CSK to stand any chance of entering the semis. Any other result and they would be eliminated.
As things stand, T&T have the second-best net run rate in the group at +0.183, while Cobras have the best net run rate at +0.443.
Their crucial encounter at the slow Chepauk pitch will be a test of application for batsmen and a challenge for bowlers to extract bounce and turn from it in order to eke out a favourable result from the match.