Royal Challengers beat Punjab Kings in Match no 48 to earn the third playoffs spot. Now 4 teams (KKR,PBKS, RR and MI) are in the hunt for the last playoff spot in IPL 2021. Here’s how the playoff qualifications looks like.
IPL 2021 Playoffs
The IPL 2021 play-offs have already seen three entrants in Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. For the remaining 1 spot there are four contenders in Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and defending champions Mumbai Indians. Here’s a look at the their chances.
IPL Points Table (after match 48)
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | NRR | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | CSK | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0.701 | 18 |
 | DC | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0.551 | 18 |
 | RCB | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | -0.157 | 16 |
 | KKR | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0.294 | 12 |
 | PBKS | 13 | 5 | 8 | 0 | -0.241 | 10 |
 | RR | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | -0.337 | 10 |
 | MI | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | -0.453 | 10 |
 | SRH | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | -0.362 | 4 |
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were seventh on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 points table after the first half of the tournament. But a resurgent KKR team were seen on the second half and with back to back wins they have made the playoff qualifications alive. Their last match is against Rajasthan Royals who beat them the last time. The Knight Riders are in a relatively more comfortable position than the rest. They now have 12 points from 13 matches and a win against Rajasthan Royals will qualify them to play-offs irrespective of what happens in other matches. But if they lose to RR, then they will land in the complicated world of mathematical calculations. Here too, the NRR of KKR will come into play and carry them to the play-offs provided MI and RR taste defeat in one of their 2 remaining matches.
Form in Last 5 League Matches: W L W L W
| Against | 1st Game | 2nd Game |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 187/6 – 177/5 | 119/4 – 115/8 |
| Punjab KIngs | 126/5 – 123/9 | 165/7 – 168/5 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 133/9 – 134/4 | – |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 166/8 – 204/4 | 94/1 – 92/10 |
| Mumbai Indians | 142/7 – 152/10 | 159/3 – 155/6 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 202/10 – 220/3 | 171/6 – 172/8 |
| Delhi Capitals | 154/6 – 156/3 | 130/7 – 127/9 |
Punjab Kings
For Punjab Kings, KL Rahul is the most consistent and top scoring batter, But the batting lacks support. The bowling has been spearheaded by Mohd Shami but as a team they are not the most consistent of teams.The Kings under KL Rahul is currently placed at 5th with 10 points with a game to go. But that in no way a reflection of the mess they are in currently. They need to win the remaining match against Chennai Super Kings wit a big margin to boost the negative run-rate of -0.241 to ensure that they stay ahead if all the other three contenders lose their next matches.
Form in Last 5 League Matches: L W L W L
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Rajasthan Royals
RR lost 3 of the last 5 matches they played. Apart from Sanju Samson, nobody has been up to the mark in the batting dept. While in bowling it has been led by Chris Morris, Mutafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya. For their remaining games ,RR has to Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders, both of which seems to be an uphill task for them.
The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals side has 10 points from 12 games that means they have 2 matches to get a desired result. The equation for the Royals too is quite simple, they need to win the remaining two matches to have a chance to qualify for the IPL 2021 play-offs. They first need to beat Mumbai Indians, and this result will ensure that one contender, MI, will crash out of the race. And the match against the Kolkata Knight Riders will then transform into a virtual knockout for the play-off berth.
Form in Last 5 League Matches: W L L L W
| Against | 1st Game | 2nd Game |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 220/3 – 165/8 | 164/5 – 167/3 |
| Punjab KIngs | 217/7 – 221/6 | 185/10 – 183/4 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 177/9 – 181/0 | 149/9 – 153/3 |
| Mumbai Indians | 171/4 – 172/3 | – |
| Chennai Super Kings | 143/9 – 188/9 | 190/3 – 189/4 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 134/4 – 133/9 | – |
| Delhi Capitals | 150/7 – 147/8 | 121/6 – 154/6 |
Mumbai Indians
For Mumbai Indians, the second phase of the IPL 2021 has not been very good. The IPL 2020 Champion have completely lost their consistency and have lost 4 matches in the last 5 games they have played. It will take nothing short of a miracle for them to make the IPL 2021 playoffs. MI are in danger of missing the play-offs even if they win their remaining two matches because depending on other results the champions can get tied with other teams. The issue here is their inferior net run rate which at worst among all the four contenders. Mumbai under Rohit Sharma face Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in their next two matches.
Form in Last 5 League Matches: L L L W L
| Against | 1st Game | 2nd Game |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 150/5 – 137/10 | – |
| Punjab KIngs | 131/6 – 132/1 | 137/4 – 135/6 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 172/3 – 171/4 | – |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 159/9 – 160/8 | 111/10 – 165/6 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 219/6 – 218/4 | 136/8 – 156/6 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 152/10 – 142/7 | 155/6 – 159/3 |
| Delhi Capitals | 137/9 – 138/4 | 129/8 – 132/6 |