Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost by 1 run to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a closely-fought match at the Eden Gardens Stadium on Sunday. Asked to bat first, KKR had posted 226/6 in their 20 overs, riding on some fine knocks from skipper Shreyas Iyer and opener Phil Salt. In reply, RCB came agonisingly close to chasing down the mammoth total with solid efforts from Rajat Patidar and Will Jacks, but couldn’t put the finishing touches to their chase and lost the match by just 1 run.
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The Faf du Plessis-led side have had a poor run of form this season, losing 7 of their 8 matches so far and sitting at the bottom of the IPL points table.
Can RCB still make it to the playoffs?
On paper, RCB have not been ruled out of the playoffs as they still have 6 games to play and winning all of them would give them 14 points. It is worth noting that just a few years ago, 14 points was a very good number to qualify for the playoff stages, but things have changed considerably since the addition of two new teams to the tournament in the form of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants.
In the period immediately prior to the addition of LSG and GT between 2018 and 2021, the fourth team in the playoffs used to have 14 points to their name and in 2019, Sunrisers Hyderabad even made it into the top 4 despite having just 12 points to their name. However, since 2022, a team usually needs 16 points to qualify for the playoff stages.
In essence, it is highly unlikely that RCB will make it to the playoff stages even if they get to 14 points by winning all their remaining matches. However, there is still a very small statistical chance that RCB could sneak through, but they would have to win all their remaining games first.
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Published: 22 Apr 2024, 10:26 AM IST
