Punjab Kings (PBKS) became the latest team to get eliminated from the Indian Premier League 2023 after a narrow four-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday, May 19. Both RR and PBKS needed to win their last group-stage game to remain alive in the playoff qualification race with just four group-stage matches to go. Rajasthan Royals moved to fifth position with a win and are tied with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) with 14 points.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clash against already eliminated Delhi Capitals (DC) in the afternoon fixture on Saturday while Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the evening game. Both CSK and LSG are tied with 15 points and are favorites to secure playoff spots. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians face bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their last game on Sunday afternoon while RCB will have an advantage of playing the last league game of this season on Sunday evening.
IPL 2023 Playoff Qualification Scenarios
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
CSK are placed in the second position with 15 points from 13 matches with a net run rate of 0.381. A win against Delhi Capitals will confirm their playoff qualification. If they win and LSG lose against KKR in their last game on Saturday, then MS Dhoni-led side will finish the league stages in the second position. If Chennai suffer a defeat against DC then they require one of LSG, RCB, MI to lose their last respective game.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Lucknow are tied with CSK with 15 points with a net run rate of 0.304 but face a tough challenge in the form of KKR at Eden Gardens. KKR also remain in the playoff qualification race so Krunal Pandya-led LSG need to produce their best performance on Saturday. A win will confirm their place in the top four for sure. If CSK lose their game against DC, then LSG will finish in second place with a win over KKR. But if LSG lose against KKR, then they require either RCB or MI to lose their last game on Sunday to qualify for the playoffs this season.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
RCB remain in the fourth position with 14 points with a net run rate of 0.180, on a level with RR and MI. RCB also holds their destiny in playoff qualification race as a win against Gujarat Titans will confirm their place in the top four. Faf du Plessis-side could finish in the second position as well if both LSG and CSK lose their last games on Saturday.
If Mumbai Indians win their last game against SRH in the afternoon fixture on Sunday, then RCB need to win against GT by just five runs to move ahead of MI in the points table. If MI lose their last game, then RCB only need to avoid a defeat by more than five runs against GT to deny RR from surpassing them in the IPL points table.
