- Monday, February 24, 2025
For Chennai Super Kings, a simple win will do while for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, nothing less than a calculated victory will ensure a berth in the playoffs.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ONLY four matches are left in the league phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and one qualifier for the playoffs is still to be determined. The race is now between Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) even though chances are very little for the third team.
For the CSK, who have won the IPL crown for five times, including last year, a win over RCB will ensure a place in the playoffs and they can still end up in the top two positions if both Rajasthan Royals (RR), the current No.2 lose their final game against table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the No.3, their last match against Punjab Kings (PBKS).
If they win their final game, Chennai will be on 16 points and even if RR have 16 also, they have an inferior net-run rate (NRR). A loss in their final match will see SRH stopping on 15 points.
Read: Hyderabad reach IPL playoffs as yet another Gujarat game gets washed out
A win for Chennai will mean both Bengaluru and Lucknow (both on 12 points) will crash out.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s team, in fact, can qualify for the playoffs even if they lose to Faf du Plessis’s Bengaluru because they are ahead in NRR (+0.52 to +0.38) which will come into play with both teams on 14 points. Unless they lose by a huge margin, a defeat against Bengaluru will see them through.
If the game scheduled at M Chinnaswamy Stadium is washed out, Chennai will go through with 15 points.
Read: Rajasthan’s ‘top 2’ mission at risk as Punjab stun them by 5 wickets
For RCB, there is not much option other than winning the game against CSK by a big margin. They have made a tremendous comeback into the tournament by winning five matches in a row after losing six consecutive games but it now all depends on how they fare against the yellow brigade, who they had faced in the opening match of this year’s edition on March 22.
RCB will have to win against CSK by at least 18 runs if they bat first and put up a total of 200. Anything less than that would not be helpful. If batting second and chasing 201, RCB would have to overhaul the target with 11 balls to spare.
For Lucknow, it is just an arithmetical possibility. Some heavy defeats in the tournament have left KL Rahul’s side with a poor NRR of -0.78 and they would have to win by a massive margin over Mumbai Indians on Friday (17) and pray for Bengaluru’s win over Chennai in a way so that they do not eclipse Lucknow’s own NRR. It is only a miracle that can see Lucknow making the top four from here. They can still hope to lift their NRR by beating Mumbai Indians, the last-ranked team which is in shambles, in their final outing.
Delhi Capitals are another team with 14 points but they have exhausted all their matches with an NRR of -0.37 and were knocked out of the tournament after the match between SRH and Gujarat Titans in Hyderabad on Thursday (16) was washed out.
Hyderabad also can finish in the top two and take on KKR in the first qualifier in the playoffs if they beat Punjab in their final game and Rajasthan lose their final game.
