Bengaluru: With Kolkata Knight Riders confirming their spot in the play-offs, and Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings out of the reckoning, seven teams are still in the running for the last three spots. It’s but mathematical in the case of the Gujarat Titans, with an inferior net run-rate, they’re way behind eight ball with 10 points with two games left, but the others, surprisingly enough even Royal Challengers Bengaluru, have a shot at going through.
Save for Rajasthan Royals (16 points), and to a degree Chennai Super Kings (14 points) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (14 points), who have to rely merely on winning and a few variables to work out, the rest - Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru - have to pray for far more to go their way.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Mat: 12; Pts: 16; NRR: 0.349 (remaining games: vs PBKS & KKR)
Fresh from their third consecutive loss, latest at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings, Sanju Samson’s men are still in a comfortable position with 16 points from 12 games. As unlikely as it sounds, Rajasthan are still not entirely secure of becoming the second team to qualify for the knockouts given their relatively poor net run-rate (+0.349), which happens to be behind CSK’s +0.528 and SRH’s +0.406.
The issue with that is if they lose the next two games, CSK win their final match, and SRH win at least one of their last two games, RR can theoretically be knocked out of the top-two spot.
As implausible as this might sound, should LSG, who are seventh on the table with 12 points from 12 games, win their next two games by a big margin and RR lose big in their next two encounters, Samson’s men could even exit the tournament.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Mat: 13: Pts 14; NRR: 0.528 (remaining games: vs RCB)
Chennai Super Kings, courtesy their Sunday night victory over Rajasthan Royals, have improved their chances of qualification significantly. With 14 points from 13 matches, if CSK win their next fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru they stand good chance of qualifying for the play-offs.
Even if they lose their next game not so badly, they are placed rather well as far as net run-rate is concerned, better than four of the five teams who are placed after Kolkata Knight Riders.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Mat: 12; Pts; 14; NRR: 0.406 (remaining games: vs GT, PBKS)
With 14 points from 12 games, SRH are marginally better placed than CSK even though it might not show on the table right now, they’re sitting fourth on the table. Given that their net run rate is +0.406, they are lagging, but they have one more game than CSK.
SRH’s next match against Gujarat Titans is of serious significance because a win there will put them on the road to progress.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU
Mat: 13; Pts 14; NRR: 0.387 (remaining games: vs CSK)
As impressive as their campaign has been over the last five encounters, they have won five successive games, RCB’s biggest challenge is the one which confronts them coming forward.
They take on CSK in their next game, and the points which they could pick up - two - will make all the difference as a whole host of options open up for them.
Should they get to 14 points, and CSK muck up their chances, and the other teams below them don’t perform as well as they could in the games to come, RCB might just pull off a miracle and qualify for the next stage. But before they look to play dice, they might want to put an end to their rather abysmal record against Chennai, and then begin to pray.
DELHI CAPITALS
Mat: 13; Pts: 12; NRR: 0.482 (remaining games: LSG)
With 12 points in 13 matches, Delhi may have ruined their chances following their loss against RCB, but they are still in the running. With one league game left, they need to win big against LSG and then hope for the cards to fall in the right sequence.
LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
Mat: 12; Pts: 12; NRR: -0769 (remaining games: vs DC, MI)
LSG have 12 points in 12 matches. The defeat against SRH means their play-offs hopes are in jeopardy, and since their net run rate at -0.769 is the second worst among all the teams, they need to do all the running to qualify.
GUJARAT TITANS
Mat: 12: Pts 10; NRR: -1.063 (remaining games: vs KKR, SRH)
The Titans don’t really have a shot at going ahead with four points to pick up from the remaining two games, but the fact that they have 10 points doesn’t really help them. They have a mathematical chance, but they have the worst run-rate which all but rules them out.