POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Oct 4, 2021:Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore have secured a place in the IPL play-offs as the third team to beat Punjab Kings by six runs. Each team has one or two matches left in the IPL. There is another place left in the play-offs. For which four teams are fighting. Who will go to the play-off in the end?
Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are at the bottom of the list with 4 points from 12 matches, have already dropped out of the play-off equation. Two Bangladeshi cricketers, Shakib Al Hasan’s Kolkata Knight Riders, Mostafizur Rahman’s Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and the last two seasons-winning Mumbai Indians are in the running.
Shakib’s side won by 6 wickets against Kolkata Kal Hyderabad and rose to number four in the points table. At the moment, in the points list, Kolkata is ahead of everyone else. But for Mostafiz’s Rajasthan, everything is still in their hands.
Kolkata 12 points in 13 matches. The other three teams in the play-off race scored 10 points! All four teams are likely to finish the group stage with 12 points. However, only Kolkata has a positive run rate among the four teams.
But the advantage for Rajasthan is that they don’t have to look at the run rate. After winning the remaining two matches, Rajasthan will not have to look in any other direction! Punjab will not only have to win again, it will also have to look at others.
Of course, just what is the equation to get to the play-off? In the meantime, among the three teams that have already secured the play-offs, we have to calculate who will play in the ‘first qualifier’ and who will play in the ‘eliminator’! At the end of the group stage, the first two teams in the points list will play in the first qualifier, the third and fourth teams in the eliminator.
Those who win in the first qualifier will advance to the final. Even if they lose, they will have a chance to win in the second qualifier and go to the final. And those who will play in the eliminator will be eliminated after losing, if they win, they will play in the second qualifier against the team that lost in the first qualifier.
Before going into the final fight of the group stage of the IPL, let’s take a look at that account for each team –
Chennai Super Kings
The next two matches will be played today against Delhi and on October 6 against Punjab.
Winning one of these two matches will ensure that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai will be one of the best two teams to play in the qualifiers. Their net run rate (+) 0.629! Where Bangalore has three (-) 0.156.
If Chennai wins one of the two matches, they will have 20 points, if Bangalore wins the remaining two matches, they will also have 20 points. But it will be impossible for Bangalore to close the gap of 0.96 in the run rate!
Delhi Capitals
The next two matches: today against Chennai, October 7 against Bangalore.
Delhi’s tally is the same as Chennai’s. At the moment, Delhi is 0.606 ahead of Bangalore in the run rate.
If they beat Bangalore on October 6, they will definitely play in the Delhi qualifiers.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
The next two matches: October 6 against Hyderabad, October 6 against Delhi.
To stay in the top two, Kohli’s Bangalore will have to win by a big margin in both these matches, as well as hope that someone from Chennai and Delhi will lose both of their matches.
Even if Chennai and Delhi lose at least one of their two matches, Bangalore will have a chance, but in that case Kohli will have to close the almost impossible gap in the run rate.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The only match left is against Rajasthan on October 6.
Kolkata have no chance to play in the qualifiers, their only chance is to reach the play-offs. Kolkata will almost certainly play in the play-offs if they win against Rajasthan. And if the victory is by a big margin, Kolkata will not have to look any further.
The advantage for Kolkata is that on the one hand their run rate is much higher. The top three teams in the play-offs are Rajasthan and Mumbai, who will face each other in one of the remaining two matches. In other words, one of these two teams can get a maximum of 14 points (if Kolkata wins the rest of the match, they will also get 14 points). Apart from Rajasthan and Mumbai, the other team Punjab has one match left, it is not possible for them to get more than 12 points.
Punjab Kings
Next match: October 8 against Chennai.
While the remaining three teams in the play-offs could get a maximum of 14 points, Punjab could not get more than 12 points. Their own destiny is not in the hands of Punjab.
For now, they will have to beat Chennai by a big margin. Then they have to pray that Kolkata loses to Rajasthan in their last match, then Rajasthan loses to Mumbai by a big margin on October 5. Besides, Mumbai also lost their next match against Hyderabad by a huge margin!
Impossible equations are less said!
Rajasthan Royals
Next two matches: 5 October against Mumbai, 8 October against Kolkata.
Like Kolkata, Rajasthan has its own destiny in its own hands. Because, they are facing their direct opponents in the play-off race. The equation is easy for Mostafiz’s team হ beat Mumbai and Kolkata in two matches, play in the play-offs.
Mumbai Indians
Next two matches: October 5 against Rajasthan, October 6 against Hyderabad.
Mumbai Indians have the worst run rate (-0.453) of the four teams in the play-offs. In the next two matches, Mumbai will have to win by such a large margin that the run-rate gap can be bridged to reach the play-offs.
