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Virat Kohli’s brilliant century against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday night has given Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) a great chance to finish in the top two of the IPL 2023 points table and secure their berth against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1. But for that to happen, RCB will need a lot more than just winning their last league match against GT at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday night.
If RCB wins on Sunday night, it can go from 14 points to 16 points. While MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lose to Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively on Saturday, they will remain on 15 points.
Faf du Plessis-led RCB will need to win against defending champions GT by a big margin in Hardik Pandya’s side to keep their net run rate above five-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI). In this scenario, RCB can finish second with 16 points even if MI win their last league match against SRH.
Check out the scenarios in which RCB can finish second on the points table…
, RCB need to beat GT to reach 16 points in last league match on Sunday
, CSK and LSG need to lose their last league matches
, MI need to lose or win their last league match against SRH by a margin not to improve their NRR over RCB.
IPL 2023 Points Table – RCB back in top 4.
He now has a chance to make it to the top 2 as well! pic.twitter.com/m2dIiS98kl– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 18, 2023
Apart from RCB, CSK, MI, LSG, KKR, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings can also qualify for the playoff stage at the moment. Know here how the rest of the teams can qualify for the playoff stage…
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni’s men need to win their final league match against DC on Saturday to reach 17 points and seal a place in the playoffs.
Lucknow Super Giants: Krunal Pandya-led LSG need to beat KKR on Saturday evening to reach 17 points and seal a place in the playoffs.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma’s side need to beat SRH by a big margin in their last match to ensure they qualify with 16, even if RCB, CSK and LSG win all their last league matches. If CSK and LSG lose their last matches and they win or RCB lose their last match and MI beat SRH then they can also qualify.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs are slim. They have to beat LSG on Saturday to reach 14 points. After that they have to pray that, RCB and MI lose their last match. In this case, KKR, RCB, MI and one out or RR and PBKS will have 14 points and the team with the best NRR will qualify.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson’s RR need to win their last league game against Punjab Kings by a big margin to improve their NRR. Then they have to hope that KKR, RCB and MI lose their last matches, so that RR, RCB and MI have 14 points each and the team with the best NRR advances.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan’s chances of qualifying are even slimmer. The equation is the same for them as for the Royals, as they need to beat RR by a huge margin on Friday night. Then they have to hope that KKR, RCB and MI lose their last matches so that PBKS, RCB and MI have 14 points each and the team with the best NRR advances.
