Here’s how KKR can still qualify for the playoffs

We are in the business end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and the race for the playoffs has intensified. 55 of the 70 league-stage games are already done and dusted but still not even one team has officially entered the top four.  At the same time, five-time champions Mumbai Indians are the only team so far to have been officially knocked out of the playoff race.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders are also on the brink of joining MI but mathematically, they are still in the hunt. Under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, the two-time winners did well in the first few games and looked set to go a long way. However, they lost the momentum midway and five defeats on the trot derailed their campaign.

As of now, KKR have just four victories in 11 games and they are reeling at the penultimate place in the team standings. Moreover, their net run rate of -0.304 is only better than that of last-placed team MI. Hence, even victories in their remain three games aren’t likely to help KKR to make a place in the next stage. Nonetheless, as mentioned above, there are still some hopes and the Knight Riders have substantial reasons to put up a good show in their remaining games.

Meanwhile, one thing is certain that KKR can also jump to the fourth place if they win their remaining games with significant margins and other match results fall in their favour. However, given their current position, any place in the final four would send the Knight Riders in jubilation.

IPL 2022 Points Table after 55 matches:

Let’s see how KKR can qualify for IPL 2022 playoffs:

Condition 1: KKR’s remaining three fixtures are against Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Lucknow Super Giants. Needless to mention, Shreyas Iyer’s men need to win all these games with significant margins to bolster their net run rate. It must be noted that LSG are the current table toppers and defeating them would take some beating.

Condition 2: Below are the listed results that need to go in KKR’s favour for them to qualify for the playoffs.

KKR beat MI
LSG vs GT (Any result)
RR beat DC
MI beat CSK
PBKS beat RCB
KKR beat SRH
CSK vs GT (Any result)
LSG vs RR (Any result)
DC beat PBKS
MI beat SRH
KKR beat LSG
GT beat RCB
CSK beat RR
MI beat DC
SRH beat PBKS

If all the match results pan out like this, then both KKR and Royal Challengers Bangalore will end up with 14 points. The team with better net run-rate will make it to the playoffs.