Delhi Capitals lost to Chennai Super Kings in the 55th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday (May 10). This was their seventh loss of IPL 2023 and that put their playoffs qualification in jeopardy. They had to win all their remaining matches to reach 16 points and make it to the top four. But that won't be the case now and even if they win all their remaining matches, DC will be able to reach up to 14 points.
Interestingly, even then the David Warner-led side will be able to qualify for the playoffs. However, for that to happen, results of certain matches need to go their way. First and foremost, they will have to win their remaining three matches - two against Punjab Kings and then against Chennai Super Kings - to reach up to 14 points. Given their current NRR, DC can only afford to tie up with Sunrisers Hyderabad on 14 points and then both teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Here's the playoff qualification scenario for DC:
DC need to win their last three matches - two against PBKS, one against CSK. They will reach 14 points in this case.
Here's how other team's results need to go their way for the rest of the season if DC win all their three matches:
RR vs KKR - RR winner
MI vs GT - GT winner
SRH vs LSG - LSG winner
RR vs RCB - RCB winner
CSK vs KKR - CSK winner
GT vs SRH - GT winner
LSG vs MI - LSG winner
SRH vs RCB - SRH winner
PBKS vs RR - PBKS winner
KKR vs LSG - KKR winner
MI vs SRH - SRH winner
RCB vs GT - GT winner
If all the aforementioned results go as expected, then DC and SRH finish on 14 points each while LSG will end up on 13 points. MI, RR, KKR, RCB and PBKS all will end up on 12 points. In this case, DC and SRH both can qualify for the playoffs.
DC also have the room for LSG to win the game against KKR and MI. In this case, LSG will end up on 15 points and make it to the playoffs on third place. Here, once DC and SRH end with 14 points each, the team with better NRR will go through to the playoffs.
