Playoffs for IPL 2024: Six teams battle it out for three spots

Playoffs for IPL 2024: Six teams battle it out for three spots

After Gujarat Titans elimination, the top six teams have sight of moving towards for the finals.

On the last evening – Monday, the abandoned game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans washed out due to rain and another team was eliminated from the playoffs table. Thus, the Gujarat Titans were the third team to get eliminated, but some remaining teams are there and need to play hard to qualify.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Bangalore has played 13 matches, having 12 points and Net Run Rate is 0.387.

Bangalore has won the last five matches and these consecutive victories led them to fifth position on the points table. Despite this ranking position not seeming possible just three weeks ago, when they lost by a run against the Kolkata team, it was the sixth defeat in a row at that time. As a result, they are now with 12 points and thus have the opportunity to tally up to 14 points when they face the Chennai Super Kings on this coming Saturday. This only means that RCB would have to make a lot of things go their way if they want to be part of the playoffs, LSG and SRH take their spots.

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai had played 13 matches, having 14 points and NRR is 0.528.

Chennai's win against Rajasthan might be the stepping-stone towards playoffs, but the Chennai team cannot rest assured of their qualification yet. If they lose to RCB and stay on 14, then four teams can still finish ahead of them on points: These are KKR, RR, SRH and LSG.

If Chennai wins against Bangalore in the last match, they will certainly make it into the top 4 based on their fantastic NRR. If they lose to Bangalore, they have to pray that either of the teams between Hyderabad or Lucknow teams remain below 16 points. Moreover, the margin of their loss will not be a wide one, just as it was said earlier because they have to finish the game with a higher run rate than the match of Chennai and Bangalore. If SRH and LSG both finish with 14 or fewer points, then they can both still make it through the playoffs by getting to 14.

Delhi Capitals

Delhi has played 13 matches, having 12 points and NRR is -0.482.

The loss by 47 runs to RCB has pressurized DC with the NRR set to -0. 482, and which has placed them below Chennai, Hyderabad, and Lucknow. It is highly improbable that they will make the cut with 14 points, and they can't end up in the top 4 rank. They need to hope that if SRH lose badly in the last two matches, CSK beats RCB, and LSG win one match most and stays below DC. Then, DC can sneak ahead of SRH on run rate, but the margins for that are highly improbable: If SRH loses their last two games with a combined margin of 150 runs by the teams batting first who scored 200 runs, then DC will still have to beat LSG by 64 runs if they want to leave SRH behind. Therefore, we can conclude that DC's campaign in IPL season 2024 is almost over.

Rajasthan Royals

Delhi has played 12 matches, having 16 points and NRR is 0.349.

Three consecutive defeats have kept RR away from playoffs as well. Besides this, the other four teams except Lucknow have the chance and opportunity to get 16 or more, but LSG seems likely unable to do so because their negative run rate is -0.769. It's almost impossible that they'll even equal Rajasthan's run rate when they have two wins and losses, but Royals need to win at least one more so that they occupy the top two places of the table.

Sunrises Hyderabad

Hyderabad has played 12 matches, having 14 points and NRR is 0.406.

Hyderabad run rate is 0.406 which gives a competitive advantage over the Lucknow and one win in their remaining two matches will secure qualification. Two victories may even push them as a candidate for the top-two placement. On the other hand, if they lose both games, then they may also be in a problem as Chennai and Bangalore both can finish ahead of them on NRR.

Lucknow Super Giants

Hyderabad has played 12 matches, having 12 points and NRR is -0.769.

With an adverse net run rate, LSG will need to accumulate 16 points to make it to the top. But they might face this shortage if Chennai and Hyderabad also finish on 16, as their NRRs are much better in comparison. In any case, even if Bangalore lose twice, it is very difficult for LSG to overhaul them in terms of run rate.