Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Thrilling Win Keeps IPL Playoff Hopes Alive

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win over Delhi Capitals has taken the IPL playoff battle into thriller mode. After beating Delhi by 47 runs, Bengaluru jumped to the fifth position in the table with 12 points in 13 games. The net run rate of Faf du Plessis and his team is +0.387.

Bengaluru’s last match of the group stage is against Chennai Super Kings. The game will also be the last chance for both teams to make the playoffs. Chennai are third in the table with seven wins in 13 matches. Chennai’s net run rate is +0.528. Sunrisers Hyderabad have 14 points with two matches remaining. Hyderabad’s net run rate is +0.406.

Playoff chances

Hyderabad’s next opponents are Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings. If they get a win in two matches, Hyderabad can easily go to the playoffs.

Lucknow Super Giants, who have 12 points from 12 matches, also have chances. With a net run rate of -0.769, Lucknow should win the remaining two matches by a huge margin.

Gujarat and Delhi still have technical potential. If they win their remaining games, they can finish the league level with 14 points. But with the net run rate, it will not be easy to beat the teams from Chennai, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Hyderabad.

Bengaluru Abilities

For Bengaluru’s chances to improve, Sunrisers need to secure the playoffs and finish third in the table and Lucknow must not win more than one match. If these two are favourable, they can reach the playoffs if they win the match against Chennai.

But if they want to beat Chennai’s net run rate, Bengaluru will have to win by calculation. If Bengaluru bat first (and score 200) they should win by at least 18 runs. Now if we run up the score we have to win with 11 balls to spare.