QUALIFICATION SCENARIOS
Follow UsThere would have been no better way for KKR to finish their home leg in IPL 2024 than officially getting their qualification for the Playoffs confirmed. With 18 points, they become the first team to get the ‘Q’ next to their name. As there are two more games remaining against GT and RR, they can even seal the top spot with 22 points.
Can KKR still finish outside the top two?
As it stands, the Knight Riders have an NRR of +1.428, which is the best in the tournament. Thus the only way they will not finish in the top two is if they lose their remaining two games by a big margin and either of RR and SRH win all their remaining games by a big margin and move ahead on the NRR front. Very unlikely, you could say.
So with KKR virtually sealing one of the top two spots, the focus now shifts to who their potential opponent in Qualifier 1 will be. Currently, RR, SRH, CSK and even DC/LSG all have a chance to finish inside the top two.
Let’s find out what the three main teams (outside KKR) in contention for top two need to do to get to Qualifier 1.
Rajasthan Royals
Points accumulated – 16
Remaining fixtures – Chennai Super Kings (A), Punjab Kings (H), Kolkata Knight Riders (H)
Maximum points they can get to - 22
Current Net Run Rate - +0.476
How they can finish in the Top Two
- Winning all their remaining three games will seal top spot for RR
- Winning two of their next three games will also be enough to seal the top two spot as neither SRH nor CSK can reach 20 points
- If they win just one of the remaining three games, they would want SRH to lose at least one of their two remaining games. That will mean SRH getting stuck at 16 points
- If they lose all their three remaining games, they can only finish 2nd if SRH lose their remaining two games and CSK lose their last game against RCB
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Points accumulated – 14
Remaining fixtures – Gujarat Titans (H), Punjab Kings (H)
Maximum points they can get to: 18
Current Net Run Rate - +0.406
How they can finish in the Top Two
- If they win their remaining two games and RR lose at least two of their three remaining games, both will end up with 18 points and the team with better NRR will take the 2nd spot
- If they lose one of their remaining two games, they can only reach 16 points. Then the only way they can finish top two is if RR lose all their three remaining games and CSK lose their last game against RCB and don’t reach 16 points. In this particular scenario, DC/LSG will also come into the picture. Should DC/LSG win both their remaining games, then the second spot will be decided by virtue of NRR as it'll be a three-way tie between RR, SRH and DC/LSG.
Chennai Super Kings
Points accumulated – 12
Maximum points they can get to: 16
Remaining fixtures – Rajasthan Royals (H), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (A)
Current Net Run Rate: +0.491 (2nd best NRR in IPL 2024)
How they can finish in the Top Two
- CSK can only reach 16 points by winning their remaining two games. They can claim the second spot if RR lose their remaining three games and SRH lose both their two remaining games. If SRH win even one of the two remaining games, CSK can only finish in the top two by virtue of NRR.
