IPL 2018: What RR, MI, KXIP need to do to grab the lone playoff berth on Sunday

The last day of the league matches of the IPL 2018 will be really intriguing as there are still some scenarios that need to be considered that can change the fate of any team in the points table.

The results of matches which were played on Saturday cleared two things: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have qualified for the playoffs and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) became the second team to get eliminated from IPL 2018. KKR will now look forward to the match between CSK and KXIP to see whether they can claim the second spot on the points table.

RR's win over RCB on Saturday has kept them in hunt for the lone playoff spot. AFP

Therefore, we have three of the four teams which will play in this year’s playoffs but there are still two matches to be played and three teams have chances for that lone spot. Let's look at what will be the impact of results of Sunday’s matches on the points table.

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Let’s look at the points table first at the end of the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played at Hyderabad.

1. SRH (Q) P: 14; W:9; L:5; Pts: 18; NRR: +0.284
2. CSK (Q) P: 13; W:8; L:5; Pts: 16; NRR: +0.270
3. KKR P:14; W:8; L:6; Pts: 16; NRR: -0.070
4. RR P:14; W:7; L:7; Pts: 14; NRR: -0.250
5. MI P:13; W:6; L:7; Pts: 12; NRR: +0.384
6. RCB P:14; W:6; L:8; Pts: 12; NRR: +0.129
7. KXIP P: 13; W:6; L:7; Pts: 12; NRR: -0.490
8. DD P:13; W:4; L:9; Pts: 6; NRR: -0.288

Rajasthan Royals

Rjasthan Royals (RR) can only be in the race if Delhi Daredevils (DD) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) at Ferozshah Kotla on Sunday and if they do, then they need to wait for the match between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and CSK and hope that KXIP lose the match, or KXIP win against CSK by 52 runs or less or less than 37 balls to spare. If MI beat DD at Kotla then RR will be out of the tournament.

Mumbai Indians

With the elimination of RCB owing to their loss to Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, Mumbai Indians now just need to win against Delhi Daredevils to qualify for the playoffs. Their win against DD will take them to 14 points and with the positive NRR, they will qualify and play the Eliminator. And a defeat against Delhi Daredevils, will be the end of their stay in the tournament.

Kings XI Punjab

After having an unexpected second half of the season, KXIP will try to perform upto their potential against CSK in their last match at Pune where a victory won’t confirm their place into the playoffs, but they still need to beat CSK by a big margin. If MI beat DD at Kotla, KXIP will be out of the tournament. If DD beat MI, Punjab still have a chance, and if they want to go above Rajasthan Royals’ NRR, in that case they need to beat CSK by atleast 53 runs or 38 balls to spare.
If KKR want to finish at the second spot in the points table, CSK need to lose to KXIP by 76 runs or 50 balls to spare.