Just 5 days remain till the IPL playoffs get underway and three teams, KKR, RR and SRH have qualified. With 3 berths locked down, each passing moment, the decisive battle for the remaining spot continues to get more and more aggressive.
Who will make it through and who will perish? Here is a quick breakdown of the 4 contenders and how stubborn their final push needs to be.
For starters, this is what the points table currently looks like.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad became the 3rd team to make it to IPL playoffs despite their match against the Gujarat Titans being abandoned on Thursday. They have 14 points with a game in hand.
A 4th consecutive defeat jeopardised Rajasthan Royals' chances of finishing in the top 2 of IPL 2024 points table. They remained on 16 points from 13 matches after a defeat against the Punjab Kings on Wednesday.
Interestingly, the result guaranteed the Kolkata Knight Riders to finish at the top of the points table as they are on 19 points from 13 matches.
The Chennai Super Kings are on the 4th spot with 14 points from 13 outings and need to win their final match to qualify.
The Delhi Capitals is on the 5th spot with 14 points from as many matches. Their campaign is still hanging by a thread.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru are placed on the 6th spot with 12 points. A big win in their final match will help them qualify for the playoffs.
The Lucknow Super Giants were pushed to the 7th position after a hat-trick of defeats. They still have an outside chance of finishing in the top 4.
The Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians have been eliminated.
KKR and RR
KKR are guaranteed to finish at the top spot with 19 points after PBKS beat Rajasthan.
RR might have qualified but need to win the last league game to stand a chance of finishing in the top 2
SRH
SRH became the third team to seal a playoffs berth with 15 points on Thursday. Sunrisers will finish in the 2nd spot if they win their final match and RR loses last match.
CSK
The Chennai Super Kings took their points tally to 14 on Sunday and now need to win their last match against RCB to qualify.
RCB
RCB vs CSK game on Saturday becomes the most important clash of the season. The only way for RCB to qualify is by winning vs CSK with a good margin.
They would also have to hope that LSG don't win their 14th game handsomly
DC
DC can go through if RCB lose their final game by denting CSK’s NRR and LSG don’t win handsomely vs MI.
LSG
LSG need to win their final game by a huge margin to improve NRR and finish at 14 points
They would also have to hope that RCB lose their 14th match and also dent CSK’s NRR in the process