Who would have thought ahead of the start of IPL 2022 that two of the most successful IPL franchises of all time, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), would be fighting to avoid the wooden spoon, that is the 10th position in the points table, at the end of the tournament?
As things stand right now, MI and CSK are occupying the bottom two spots in the IPL 2022 points table with both teams having one game in hand. While MI is positioned at no. 10 with 3 wins out of 13 games so far, CSK is positioned at no. 9 with 4 wins out of 13. After last night’s defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), it seems Mumbai Indians are now very likely to finish at the last spot.
MI can level with CSK in terms of the no. of points if they win their last game against Delhi Capitals (DC) and CSK lose their last game against Raj asthan Royals (RR), but the problem with MI is that their Net Run Rate (NRR) is far worse as compared to the NRR of CSK.
Mumbai Indians need two results to go their way by significant margins
Not only do Mumbai Indians need two results to go their way, but they also need the results by significant margins as well. In their own game against Delhi Capitals, MI will require a victory of more than 50 runs or they will have to chase the target down with 5 or 6 overs in hand, that is by the 14th or the 15th over of the innings, if they bat second.
And then, MI will have to hope that CSK put on a similar kind of performance against CSK. Only in a scenario where MI beats Delhi by the margin mentioned above and then Rajasthan beats CSK by the same margin that MI’s NRR can surpass the NRR of CSK.
If the results go the way MI wants, it will also ensure the no. of points acquired by both CSK and MI is equal and since MI’s NRR will be better in that scenario, they will move to the 9th position in the table. But, it is very, very unlikely for both these results to go MI’s way by as much of a margin as they require.
Mumbai Indians can avoid the 10th position if:
– RR beats CSK by more than 50 runs/chase target around 14-15 overs.
– MI beats Delhi by more than 50 runs/chase target around 14-15 overs.
Advertisement– if any of the equation fails, Mumbai Indians will finish at 10th Position.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 18, 2022
