IPL Qualification Scenarios: How things stand for LSG, PBKS, SRH and DC in the playoffs race

Punjab Kings (PBKS) managed to keep their hopes of reaching the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs alive with a clinical display against the Delhi Capitals in New Delhi on Saturday.

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Punjab rode on Prabhsimran Singh’s maiden IPL hundred (103 off 65) to post a competitive 167/7 on the board before Harpreet Brar (4/30) coupled with Rahul Chahar’s 2/16 helped restrict Delhi to 136/8 in reply despite the home team getting off to a cracking start in the chase.

The Saturday double-header also featured Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) hosting the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, where an unbeaten 64 from Prerak Mankad along with valuable contributions from Nicholas Pooran (44 not out) and Marcus Stoinis (40) helped LSG easily overhaul the 183-run target set by the ‘Orange Army’ with seven wickets and four deliveries to spare.

With the tournament heading to its business end, it’s time for us to look at the qualification chances of the four teams that were involved in Saturday’s double-header:

Lucknow Super Giants

Remaining matches: vs MI (16 May in Lucknow), vs KKR (20 May in Kolkata)

LSG gave their hopes of finishing in the top four at the end of the group stage a major boost with a comfortable seven-wicket win over SRH on Saturday, returning to the playoffs zone by pushing Rajasthan Royals from the fourth spot.

A victory over Mumbai Indians on 16 May could put them in a position to challenge Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for one of the top two spots, though that would also depend on how those two teams fare in their final round of matches, with LSG also having to beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their final group outing. What also works to Lucknow’s advantage is their Net Run Rate of +0.309, the fourth highest among all teams.

Punjab Kings

Remaining matches: vs DC (17 May in Dharamsala), vs RR (19 May in Dharamsala)

PBKS too are hanging by a thread in the race to the IPL 2023 playoffs following their 31-run victory over DC in Delhi on Saturday. From the national capital, they now travel north to Dharamsala — their second home venue — where they take on wooden spooners DC and RR in their final fixtures.

Given they precariously sit at the sixth spot with 12 points from as many outings and a NRR that’s in the negative (-0.268), Punjab will ideally want to win both of their remaining fixtures if they are to make it to the next round. And since both RR and PBKS are tied on 12 points, the showdown between them on Friday could be a mouth-watering contest, and even a virtual quarter-final so to speak.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Remaining matches: vs GT (15 May in Ahmedabad), vs RCB (18 May in Hyderabad), vs MI (21 May in Mumbai)

The defeat against LSG on Saturday meant SRH continued to languish at the ninth spot in the 10-team points table, making their progression into the playoffs extremely unlikely if not impossible. While they are tied on eight points with the bottom-ranked DC, they do have a game in hand and have three fixtures lined up in the final week of the group stage of the tournament.

It goes without saying that SRH will have to win all three if they are to hope of reaching the knockouts, and they will have to win them handsomely to edge other teams out on NRR since theirs currently reads a sorry -0.471 — the second worst among all teams. And what makes this even more challenging is the fact that they face defending champions and table leaders GT as well as a resurgent MI in two of those three fixtures.

Nothing’s impossible though and we certainly have witnessed many a miracle this season. Maybe there’s one more in store this week for the ‘Orange Army’.

Delhi Capitals

Remaining matches: vs PBKS (17 May in Dharamsala), vs CSK (20 May in Delhi)

DC on Saturday suffered the ignominy of becoming the first team to bow out of the playoffs race after suffering a 31-run defeat against PBKS at home, resulting in them continuing to occupy the last spot with eight points and just two matches left in the group stage.

All that the David Warner-led side will play for now will be pride, and they certainly will be hoping to exact revenge against the Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab when the two sides lock horns again on Wednesday, this time in Dharamsala. Many a team, including an especially Mumbai Indians, will be hoping DC are able to spring a surprise against CSK in their final match on Saturday to make the race to the playoffs a bit more interesting.

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