IPL 2018: With Mumbai out, this is Punjab's chance to qualify

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IPL 2018: With Mumbai out, this is Punjabs chance to qualify

Dubai - Rajasthan Royals, King XI Punjab and three-time winners Mumbai Indians are vying for the last spot.

By KT Report

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Published: Sun 20 May 2018, 3:47 PM

Last updated: Mon 21 May 2018, 12:26 AM

As the 55th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) ended, one team -- a three-time champion -- bid their chances goodbye, and left the the fourth spot of the playoffs open to two teams.
Check out our interactive IPL points table

Hyderabad Sunrisers, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have already qualified for the knock-out stage of the 60-match annual T20 tournament.
KKR seal play-off berth with five-wicket win over Sunrisers

The two other teams with a chance to complete the four-team play-off are Rajasthan Royals (RR) and King XI Punjab (KXIP). Three-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI) were on Sunday knocked out after being beaten by Delhi Daredevils by 11 runs. Delhi scored 174/4 in 20 overs. Mumbai were all out for 163.

Let's see probability of the teams qualifying for the playoff.

RR

They are currently fourth and the team will be glued to television sets, praying that both MI and KXIP end up on the losing side. In that case the Shane Warne-coached team go through to last four. An MI win will end the RR campaign as they have a poorer net run rate (-0.250) than Mumbai. However, if DD beat MI, Rajasthan would need either CSK to beat KXIP by any margin or CSK to lose against KXIP by not more than 53 runs, or with 38 balls to spare. Therefore, RR can do little but hope for the results of the other two games to go in their favour.
Royals alive after ending RCB's campaign

MI

A victory against bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils (DD) in Sunday's match would have taken the Rohit Sharma-led team to 14 points, same as RR, but they have a far superior net run rate (+0.384 before the last match) and that would have ensured that they stayed alive in the tournament to try and win the record fourth title. but Mumbai lost, and they are out of the tournament.
Mumbai and Punjab in do-or-die situation

KXIP

Unlike MI's terrible start to the season, KXIP started extremely well, winning five out of the first six matches. However, they lost six of the next seven matches and now face a daunting task of qualifying. They need to beat CSK by 53-plus runs or with 38-plus balls to improve their net run rate (-0.490) better than RR. That too if MI lose, otherwise they make a exit irrespective of their result against CSK as impossible to get past MI's net run rate.

Kings XI Punjab

Just the way Mumbai Indians are still alive in the competition, it is also staggering how Kings XI Punjab haven't booked their spot in the play-offs yet. They but lost their way with defeats in six of next seven matches. Standing in the seventh spot, it doesn't help KXIP that their NRR isn't the greatest either. If MI beat DD and later KXIP beat CSK, both MI and KXIP will have 14 points. But due to a poor NNR, KXIP would find it incredibly difficult to leapfrog Mumbai. Should DD beat MI, KXIP would need to beat CSK by approximately to spare to pip Rajasthan's NRR and go ahead.


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