Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals became the four teams to qualify for the playoffs in the 2024 edition of the IPL. For the first time in the IPL, the four teams in the top four are completely different from the previous season. Gautam Gambhir and addition of Phil Salt changed everything for KKR, Pat Cummins' leadership along with aggressive mindset did it for SRH after three years, and the consistency and performance as a team helped Rajasthan Royals get to the playoffs for the second time in this three-year cycle while luck, belief and some inspired performances turned it around for RCB in a redemption for the ages.
Here's all you need to know about the IPL 2024 playoffs-
Road to top four
Kolkata Knight Riders were probably the most consistent team of the tournament and hence have finished at the top of the table. KKR started their tournament with a close 4-run win against this very opponent, the Sunrisers Hyderabad before they beat RCB and Delhi in away games. A low-scoring game against CSK didn't go their way and then started a five-game run at home. RR and Punjab Kings chased down big scores against them for them to eventually come out winners against LSG, Delhi Capitals and RCB again. After that they didn't lose a single game before their last two were washed out.
Sunrisers Hyderabad started their campaign with a close loss to KKR and then began the season of big scores. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma led SRH to big totals, bigger sixes and even bigger intent and the teams were blown off. 277 against MI, 287 against RCB, 266 against Delhi. They were destroying teams for fun. Then came a big lull where they lost three out of their four games before rectifying their mistakes in their last three homes games against LSG and Punjab Kings to finish on a high. The match against GT was washed out.
Rajasthan Royals were dominating at one point, in such a one-sided way that it didn't matter who the opposition was. RCB, KKR, Delhi, Punjab Kings or Mumbai Indians, they got across the line, rather comfortably. With 16 points in nine games, they would have fancied themselves to top the table. However, a one-run loss to SRH triggered a winless streak for the Royals that has followed them till the end of the league stage. They suffered a loss against the Delhi Capitals and then Chennai Super Kings on the road before dropping a game against Punjab Kings at their adopted home ground. Nothing seemed to go right for RR as their final game was washed out and they now face a resurgent RCB.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru were belted, and absolutely thrashed in the first half of the tournament and that's not an exaggeration. RCB lost to CSK, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers, KKR, Lucknow, basically every team. However, after six losses, something changed. Some hard words were said. The reverse fixture against KKR saw for the first time RCB implement the bowling plans they had and almost won the game. The shift began. They started winning. Beat SRH first up. Then followed it up against Gujarat Titans twice, then Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals before the humdinger against the Chennai Super Kings. Apart from their wins, a lot of other results had to go their way, it did and RCB now face an underconfident Royals side in an eliminator.
Full Schedule
May 21 - Qualifier 1: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
May 22 - Eliminator: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
May 24 - Qualifier 2: Winner of Eliminator vs Loser of Qualifier 1
May 26 - Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2
Match details and live streaming
The first two playoff matches (the first qualifier and the eliminator) will take place at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad while Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium will host the remaining two (the second qualifier and the final). All four matches will have a 7:30 PM IST start with the toss to take place half an hour before.
The tournament will continue to telecast the games on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD channels in English and in other languages on language-specific channels. The live streaming of all four matches will be available on JioCinema app and website.
