The 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs are all but settled, with Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants already secured a spot in the next round. The fourth slot is still up for grabs, with the likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals competing. As for RCB and MI, their fate is in their own hands, with a specific result that gave them the last spot in the knockouts. But for RR to advance to the next round, both RCB and MI would have to lose their respective matches in a way.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Playoffs Qualifying Scenario:
With the best Net Run Rate of the three contending teams, the Faf du Plessis-led franchise is in the most promising position to advance to the next round. A win over defending champions and table toppers Gujarat Titans would be enough to sail on unless Mumbai Indians’ victory margin against Sunrisers Hyderabad is such that Rohit Sharma’s side’s NRR trumps that of RCB.
NRR for RCB: +0.180
NRR for MI: -0.128
With Mumbai playing their final match of the competition first, the Bengaluru side has a clear advantage knowing what kind of result they need against GT to qualify.
Mumbai Indians Playoffs Qualifying Scenario:
Winning against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the bottom table would be enough for Mumbai Indians if Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a defeat against the Gujarat Titans in their last match later in the day. If RCB also beat GT, the situation would come to the Net Run Rate, where MI is not in the most promising position.
For Mumbai to be ahead of Bengaluru’s current NRR, they would need to beat Hyderabad by a huge margin. But even then things could change if RCB goes on to beat GT by a margin that helps them surpass MI on NRR.
All in all, MI playoff hopes are in GT’s hands, even if they win against SRH.
Rajasthan Royals Playoffs Qualifying Scenario:
Not all of them out of the race, but the Royals are not in control of their fate. For the Sanju Samson-led side to qualify for play-offs, both RCB and MI would have to suffer defeats in their respective last league matches. RR is currently on 14 points and if both RCB and MI lose, there will be three teams with 14 points each.
RCB NRR: +0.180
RR NRR: +0.148
Since Rajasthan’s NRR is better than MI’s, they would, the only hurdle for them would be the Royal Challengers. But if Faf du Plessis’ leading side loses by a reasonable margin, since the NRR difference between the two sides isn’t much, the Royals will continue.
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