All teams have a maximum of about six games left to play in the league stage
All teams in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) have played between eight and 10 matches this season, which means we are now getting into that stage of the tournament where the race for the top four heats up. The Rajasthan Royals are sitting comfortably on top, currently enjoying a six-point lead on 16 but below then, there as many as five teams on 10 points, one team on eight and three teams on six points. Let’s take a look at where each team is and what they need to do to confirm a spot for themselves in the playoffs.
RCB recorded their second consecutive victory. (AFP)
Rajasthan Royals one win away, a scramble beneath them
RR have collected as many as 16 points in nine games now, having lost just once thus far throughout the season. They are still yet to have their qualification confirmed though but just one more win should be enough for that. The reason they are yet to be mathematically confirmed as qualified is because all teams except for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) can still make it to 16 points.
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Among the five teams below them who are on 10 points, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are better off for now. They have played eight matches, which means they have one game in hand on RR, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in third place, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in fourth and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in fifth and two games on Delhi Capitals (DC) in sixth place. Two more wins will get KKR to 14 points, which is the maximum that bottom placed RCB can get if they win all of their remaining games and so that should do it for the two-time champions.
SRH’s marauding ways have been punctured by the two comprehensive defeats they suffered to RCB and CSK in their last two games. CSK, on the other hand, have got a major bosot to their net run rate thanks to their victory against SRH. Among the two, it is SRH who will face the heat a little more from the fifth-placed LSG, whose net run rate is only slightly lesser than that of the 2016 champions.
Desperation zone beneath fifth
DC may be among the teams on 10 points but they have also played 10 matches, more than any side above them. DC have already suffered five losses and so this means that they need to win all the rest of their remaining games. Out of the four matches that they have left, three are against teams placed above them and that includes a match against LSG in their last league game. It means that DC’s still remains in their hands to a certain extent. Gujarat Titans’ situation seems similar at first glance but a closer look would show that they might be even worse off than eighth-placed Punjab Kings and ninth-placed Mumbai Indians. GT have lost six of the 10 matches they have played and their net run rate of -1.113 is the worst by some distance. It means that below the seventh-placed DC, all teams need to win all of their remaining games and hope for a number of favourable results to make it to the playoffs. This includes RCB, who would feel upbeat after two consecutive wins but remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
