After the resounding win against Gujarat Titans(GT) on Saturday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru(RCB) have now won 3 games on the trot to take their tally to 8 points and have moved to 7th position after spending most of the season at the bottom of the table.
The win against the Shubham Gill led side has also bolstered their Net Run Rate to -0.049 something that will help them as the race to the playoffs intensifies.
However, after losing so many matches, the possibility of the team from Bengaluru is not completely in their own hands. RCB can now achieve a maximum of 14 points in the league stages. To qualify for the playoffs, RCB need the following conditions:
- RCB need to win all their remaining matches and get to 14 points. The remaining fixtures are against Punjab Kings(PBKS), Delhi Capitals(DC) and Chennai Super Kings(CSK).
- The winner of the Sunrisers Hyderabad(SRH) vs Lucknow Super Giants(LSG) on May 8 should win the rest of their matches. This will get them to 16+
- The loser of the SRH vs LSG fixture should lose the rest of their fixtures. This will make them stuck on 12 points.
- Rajasthan Royals(RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) win their remaining matches to get to 16+ points in the league stages.
- None of the teams from CSK, MI, DC and PBKS go above 12.
- Gujarat Titans don’t get above Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Net Run Rate.
If these conditions are satisfied, Royal Challengers will be able to qualify for the playoffs. Incase RCB lose a game or are tied with another team on 14 then it will boil down to the Net Run Rate of the teams to decide on the qualifier.
Incase these conditions are met, the four qualifying teams will be Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad/Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
As the league stage draws to an end for what is one of the best seasons for batting so far, the race to the playoffs is getting more interesting after each game. With 18 more games remaining, it will only keep getting more interesting from here.
-Namit Pandey