IPL: Tough road ahead for Mumbai to qualify for the playoffs

We are left with only five matches in the league stage of IPL 2021. Technically, Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians are the two teams that have high chances of sealing the fourth spot on the points table. Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore have already qualified for the playoffs.

Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals have a mathematical chance of qualifying but they need other results to come in their favour.

Mumbai’s win against RR last night boosted their net run-rate quite well but it is still lower than the NRR of KKR. Mumbai will play its last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday. It can qualify directly if KKR loses to RR in its next match and MI beats SRH in its last match.

If KKR wins against RR and MI lose to SRH, then the former will cruise into the playoffs.

If both KKR and MI manage to win their respective last games, the latter needs to better the NRR of Kolkata in order to qualify for the playoffs.

That means, Mumbai should win against SRH either by 66 balls or with more than 48 runs, and also hope that KKR wins against RR with a very close margin so that there will not be any significant change in its NRR. Going by this calculation, it is still a tough task for MI to qualify for the playoffs. KKR will play its last game tomorrow while Mumbai will play its final league match on Friday.