Royal Challengers Bangalore notched up a surreal win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the just-concluded game at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
Batting first, SRH posted 186/5 in their quota of 20 overs with the help of Heinrich Klaasen’s maiden IPL century. In response, RCB played really well, courtesy of Virat Kohli’s 100 and Faf du Plessis’ 71.
Royal Challenges Bangalore aced the run-chase in 19.2 overs. They won the game by eight wickets and keep their playoff race alive. RCB will take on GT in the home fixture at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 21.
Here is the qualification scenario for Mumbai Indians after RCB beat SRH
Now that Royal Challengers Bangalore have notched up a comfortable win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Faf du Plessis and Co are now fourth on the IPL 2023 points table.
Having played 13 games so far this season, RCB have won seven games and lost the remaining games. Now, let’s look at the qualification scenario for Mumbai Indians after RCB’s win over SRH.
As things stand, Mumbai Indians have also played 13 games just like RCB but their Net Run Rate is comparatively lower (-0.128). On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore have a healthy NRR of +0.180.
Mumbai Indians will play against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 21. Rohit Sharma and Co have collected 14 points so far and a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad will take them to 16 points, which is the maximum number of points they can finish.
However, even a win might not do the trick for Mumbai Indians if RCB wins the next game against GT. First of all, MI will have to win the next game by a massive margin to ensure that they finish the league stage with a better Net Run Rate, which will further increase their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
However, if Mumbai Indians fail to win the next game, they can still qualify but will have to rely on the results of other teams.