The 11th season of the Indian Premier League have been one of the wildest so far. Forty-eight matches have been played but only two teams have booked their playoff berth – SunRisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings. And for remaining two spots, five teams are fighting.
IPL Table
SunRisers Hyderabad are the table toppers with 18 points to their name in 12 games, followed by Chennai that have 16 points from 12 matches.
Three IPL teams — Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab — are tied with 12 points from as many games.
Two teams are tied on 10 points in 12 outings — Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Though Mumbai and Bangalore have fewer points than KKR, RR and Punjab, they can still qualify for the playoffs if they win their remaining two matches and the other teams lose one or both games.
Here is the list of teams, that are fighting for play-offs berth:
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR – Matches Played – 12, Won- 6, Lost- 6, Point- 12, Net Run Rate -0.189, Position- third in IPL table.
Dinesh Karthik’s KKR is currently at number three position and they will play Rajasthan Royals on May 15 at Eden Gardens. The winner in today’s game will move to 14 points.
If Kolkata win today’s match, they will move closer to play-off berth but if they lose, they can still progress by winning their last match if Rajasthan and Punjab lose their last games.
However, KKR’s net run rate is -0.189, which is way weaker than Mumbai’s (+0.405) and RCB’s (+0.218). Thes can send Kolkata out of the race if MI and RCB win their remaining matches.
Rajasthan Royals
RR – Matches Played – 12, Won- 6, Lost- 6, Point- 12, Net Run Rate -0.347, Position- fourth in IPL table.
Rajasthan were almost about to get eliminated from IPL playoff race but then they bounced back with the hat-trick of wins and now they are sitting at the fourth spot in the points table with 12 wins from as many games.
Rajasthan Royals will face Kolkata Knight Riders on May 15 at Eden Gardens. The winner in today’s game will move to 14 points.
If Rajasthan win Tuesday’s game, they will move closer to play-off berth but if they lose, the chances are negligible.
Kings XI Punjab
KXIP – Matches Played – 12, Won- 6, Lost- 6, Point- 12, Net Run Rate -0.518, Position- fifth in IPL table.
Despite having one of the most dangerous opening pair (Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle) in their batting line up and one of the most prominent bowlers (Andrew Tye and Mujeed Ur Rahman) the team have not yet qualified for play-offs berth.
The fragile and inconsistent middle order of Punjab is a major headache for KXIP skipper R Ashwin, as the team is over-dependent on Rahul and Gayle. Every time, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle failed in hitting big, the team collapse. And if their performance against RCB in the recently concluded match is anything to say then that kind of batting will not win you anything.
KXIP will face Mumbai next on Wednesday and CSK on Sunday and to consolidate their position in play-offs, they need to win both the games.
Mumbai Indians
MI – Matches Played – 12, Won- 5, Lost- 7, Point- 10, Net Run Rate 0.405, Position- sixth in IPL table.
Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indian are at the sixth position in IPL table and to qualify for the playoffs, they need to win both their remaining matches.
Mumbai will face Punjab next in their fixture and loss will send them packing. However, if they knock Punjab out, they can go through.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB – Matches Played – 12, Won- 5, Lost- 7, Point- 10, Net Run Rate 0. 0.218, Position- seventh in IPL table.
The star-studded Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore is at the seventh position in the IPL table but they can still qualify for the playoff berth if they win their remaining two matches.
RCB will next face table-toppers SunRisers Hyderabad in their next fixture on Thursday and then Ajinkya Rahane-led Rajasthan Royals next on Saturday and to qualify, they need to win both the matches and hope other teams lose their games.