Things are getting clear with every match in terms of playoffs qualification in the ongoing season of Indian Premier League (IPL). Probably the most crucial match of the season was played on Tuesday between Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants and the latter side emerged victorious to jump to the third place in the points table. A loss for any team would've hurt badly and MI are now struggling to make it to the playoffs.
If MI had won, they would've possibly aimed for a top two finish. But the tight competition in the points table has left them depending on other teams now to make it to the top four in IPL 2023. Net Run-Rate (NRR) is set to come into play as the playoff race heats up in the last week of league stage in IPL.
Here we look at MI's playoff qualification chances in IPL 2023?
How many matches MI has played so far? What is their position in the points table?
Mumbai Indians have played 13 matches so far and have won seven and lost six. They are at the fourth position in the points table.
Against which teams MI matches are left?
Like most of the teams, MI have only one match left now, against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) who have been knocked out of the competition already.
What MI needs to do qualify for the playoffs?
MI's fate is not in their own hands now but to have any chance of making it to top four, they will have to win their final league game against SRH. If CSK and LSG win their respective last league games, and RCB win both their remaining matches, then MI will most probably get knocked out on the grounds of NRR even if they win against SRH. If RCB win their last two matches by a combined margin of 10 runs, then MI will have to beat SRH by close to 80 runs to pip RCB on NRR which seems impossible.
MI can only qualify if two or more teams among CSK, LSG, RCB and PBKS don't win all their remaining games. Moreover, if MI lose to SRH, they will get stuck at 14 points and then have to hope that both RCB and PBKS lose at least one match. In this case, they also have to hope that RCB lose one of their matches by a massive margin.
Can MI make it to top 2?
Currently, this seems to be the unikely scenarion. But if so many IFs and BUTs go in MI's favour, the five-time champions can still make it to the second position in the points table. If MI beat SRH in their last league game and if following events happen:
1. CSK and LSG lose their last league game
2. RCB and PBKS lose at least one game
Then, MI can jump to the second place and face Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 1.
