IPL Playoff Scenario 2025: Chennai Super Kings, captained by MS Dhoni, who were already out of the IPL playoff race, spoiled the game of Kolkata Knight Riders by defeating them.
Chennai Super Kings, captained by MS Dhoni, who were already out of the IPL 2025 playoffs, spoiled the game of Kolkata Knight Riders by defeating them on Wednesday. KKR scored 179 runs while batting first. Chasing the target, CSK had a very bad start, their 5 wickets returned to the pavilion for just 60 runs. After this, Dewald Brevis (52) and Shivam Dubey (45) played brilliant innings and gave CSK the win.
Dewald Brevis scored 52 runs in 25 balls, in which he hit 4 sixes and as many fours. Shivam Dubey played an important innings of 45 runs in 40 balls. Dhoni played cautiously and remained unbeaten after scoring 17 runs in 18 balls. CSK achieved the target with 2 balls to spare and won by 2 wickets. CSK was already out of the playoff race, but this was a battle of honour which Dhoni and team won.
KKR out of playoff race?
No, the team is not officially out yet but it has become a bit difficult for them to reach the playoffs. This was KKR's sixth defeat of the season. After 12 matches, this team captained by Ajinkya Rahane has 11 points, it is at number six in the table. Now if they win both their matches, they can have a maximum of 15 points, in such a situation, their reaching the playoffs will now depend on the performance of other teams.
These 2 teams benefited
No team has been able to officially confirm its place in the playoffs yet, however, the defeat of Kolkata Knight Riders has benefited Lucknow Super Giants and Delhi Capitals, who are currently at 7th and 5th position respectively in the points table. Delhi has won 6 out of 11 matches and can reach a maximum of 19 points. Lucknow has won 5 out of 11 matches and this LSG captained by Rishabh Pant can reach 16 points.
Strong contender to reach the playoffs
Gujarat Titans is currently at the top of the points table, it has won 8 out of 11 matches. RCB has also won 8 out of 11 matches. Both have 16-16 points but the net run rate of Gujarat (0.793) is better than RCB (0.482). Both need 1-1 win to confirm their place in the playoffs.
Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians are at third and fourth position respectively. Punjab has won 7 out of 11 and Mumbai has won 7 out of 12 matches. Punjab has 15 points, it has 3 matches left out of which it has to win 2 matches. Even with 1 win, the team can qualify for the playoffs due to poor performance of other teams.
Mumbai Indians still have 2 matches left, it has to win both the matches. If it loses one match, then its reaching the playoffs will depend on the performance of other teams. The good thing for Hardik Pandya and team is that its net run rate (1.156) is the best among all the teams.
What is the minimum number of points required to reach IPL 2025 playoffs?
Even teams with 16 points are not able to qualify for the playoffs right now, because there are 4 more teams that can reach here while 2 teams have already got so many points. Therefore, now the team will qualify for the playoffs with 18 points. However, even with 16 points, the team will reach the playoffs with a good net run rate if the results of other teams go in its favour.
