May 13 (Punjab Khabarnama) : The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were touted to be among the first teams who could be officially ruled out of the race for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs not too long ago. Now, they are right in the thick of things as far as the race for the top four goes with the two-time runners-up recording their fifth consecutive win of the season on Sunday.
RCB defended a a target of 188, quite a feat considering the kind of scores that have been chased down with regularity this season, against the Delhi Capitals and jumped up to fifth on the league standings. They are now just two points behind fourth spot and are breathing down the necks of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings. So poor were they in the first half of the season that a number of favourable results were needed for them to qualify but now, they do have of some parts of their fate in their own hands.
Why RCB would be hoping for a defeat for SRH and LSG
This part of the equation is completely out of RCB’s hands. Sunrisers Hyderabad are placed fourth on 14 points in 12 matches, while RCB are on 12 points in 13 matches. If SRH lose their next match and RCB win theirs, the latter could jump to fourth due to a better net run rate. However, RCB also have to be wary of Lucknow Super Giants, who are level on points with them but have a game in hand. Hence the best case scenario for them would be defeats for both LSG and SRH, neither of whom they are facing, which is what makes this a situation that they have absolutely no control over.
What is in RCB’s hands?
If LSG and SRH both win their next games, it could pretty much be curtains for RCB’s hopes as they would be competing against two teams who have more points than them in the same number of matches. However, defeat for even one of them, if not both, makes RCB’s final league game of this season at home against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday a lip-smacking virutal knockout. CSK are third with 14 points, just two more than RCB. Their net run rate of 0.528 is only slightly better than RCB’s. It means that if RCB win that match, they could cement a spot in the top four for themselves. Additionally, if SRH beat Gujarat Titans on Thursday before that, CSK could drop out of the top four in the last minute.
About the Gujarat Titans
GT face table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday. GT’s victory against CSK on May 10 owing to centuries from captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan sent quite a few shockwaves throughout the table and it helped them avoid being officially knocked out of the race for the playoffs. Their chances of making it remain quite remote, though. GT would need all of the teams above them competing for the top four to lose their matches, an impossible prospect considering four of them are playing each other, while ensuring that they win their two remaining games. They can get to a maximum of 14 points this season, the same as fourth-placed SRH at the moment and that is the only reason they haven’t been mathematically ruled out yet.