(Agencies) Mumbai, The match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans of the Indian Premier League 2024 season on Thursday (May 16) was abandoned without a toss due to rain. After this result, Hyderabad became the third team to reach the playoffs. Now there is going to be a fierce competition between the teams of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
The playoff equation has also changed completely after the Hyderabad-Gujarat match was washed out by rain. After this result, the fight for the second place in the playoffs has started. Kolkata Knight Riders have established themselves at the top. Now there is a battle between the remaining teams for the second place. Top-2 ranked teams get 2 chances in the playoffs.
Qualifier-1 is played between top-2 teams. In this, the losing team gets one more chance. He has to play Qualifier-2. In which they will face the winner of the eliminator between the teams ranked third and fourth in the table.
Delhi Capitals are also out of the playoffs after the Hyderabad-Gujarat match was washed out due to rain. In this way, 4 out of 10 teams are completely out of the playoff race. Also consider the fifth team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) out. His last match is yet to be played. If KL Rahul-led LSG wants to stay in the playoff race, they will have to win their last match against Mumbai Indians by a big margin.
But this is not possible. His poor net run rate of -0.787 is a big hindrance for him. In such a situation Lucknow can also be considered out. In such a situation, now only two teams are left to claim the fourth team Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are the strong contenders for it. The most exciting thing is that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team Chennai and Virat Kohli's Bangalore are going to play their last match against each other.
This match will be played on May 18 at Izramna's home ground i.e. M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. But the thing to see here is that the road for Bengaluru to reach the playoffs is not as easy as it seems. He has to win his last match with some conditions. Sunrisers Hyderabad team entered the playoffs with 1 point.
They became the third team to reach the playoffs. Also, Delhi Capitals are out of the playoff race. Chennai and Bengaluru battle for the fourth team. To qualify for the playoffs, Izram needs to win at home against Zarjidbh by 18 runs or 18.1 (assuming Izram scores 200 runs when batting first). By winning the last match against Kolkata, the Rajasthan team will secure their second position in the points table.
Hyderabad team can also come second if they beat Punjab in the last match. Also, Kolkata should beat Rajasthan in their last match (both matches are on 19th May). The Chennai team can also reach the second position if they beat Bengaluru in their last match. Also, the teams from Rajasthan and Hyderabad should lose their last matches.
