IPL 2024: The league stage of the Indian Premier League will draw a close with the Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders game at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on May 19.
All the top four teams have been confirmed after Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 27-run win over Chennai Super Kings but the top two are yet to be confirmed. Sunrisers Hyderabad's win over Punjab Kings in the final match has made things more interesting with rain delaying the toss in the game between RR and KKR.
Who will finish in the top 2 if rain spoils RR vs KKR clash?
If rain spoils the RR vs KKR match 70 of the tournament, the Sanju Samson-led side will be on the receiving end. KKR are assured of a top-place finish but their challengers in the Qualifier 1 are yet to be ascertained. SRH have won their last league game against PBKS and have 17 points in 14 matches to take the second spot from Rajasthan Royals.
If the match is washed out, both the teams will get a point each but RR will not be able to leapfrog SRH as they have an inferior Net Run Rate to the Hyderabad side.
SRH have an NRR of +0.414 after their win over PBKS. If RR get a solitary point for their game against KKR, they will be on 17 points with an NRR of +0.273.
If the rain washes this game, RR will finish at the third spot and will meet RCB in Eliminator on May 22 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. But if the match takes place and the Royals end up beating the Knight Riders, then they will get on 18 points and will finish in second spot.
This will mean that RR will face KKR in Qualifier 1 on May 21 in Ahmedabad and SRH will take on RCB in the Eliminator.
Earlier today, SRH defeated PBKS in the day game of the last double-header of the season. PBKS made 214 batting first with star contributions from Prabhsimran, Rilee Rossouw and Atharva Taide. SRH went on to chase their joint-highest IPL total with strong knocks from Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen.