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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Wednesday a slight change to the schedule of the play-offs for the ongoing 2015 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Earlier, it was announced that Mumbai will be hosting the second qualifier on May 22 with no news on the first qualifier while the city of Pune will be hosting the eliminator on May 20.
While there is no change as far as the eliminator in Pune is concerned, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will now be hosting the first qualifier on May 19, with MS Dhoni’s home city of Ranchi instead hosting the second qualifier.
The final will be played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 24, owing to the fact that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the previous edition of the marquee T20 tournament.
The first qualifier will be held between the teams who finish 1st and 2nd at the end of the league stages, with the winner directly getting a place in the final. It’s not all doom and gloom for the losing team, though, as they get a second shot at reaching the final, facing the winner of the eliminator between the third and fourth-placed teams in the second qualifier.
This system was introduced from the 2011 edition onwards, in order to give an added incentive to teams to finish in the top two and ensure a fairer competition, as opposed to earlier, where a team could exit the tournament despite having been the standout team in the league stages due to one bad day at the office.
IPL 2015 play-offs schedule
| Date | Match | Venue | Reserve day |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2015 | Qualifier 1: First-placed team vs Second-placed team | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | May 20, 2015 |
| May 20, 2015 | Eliminator: Third-placed team vs Fourth-placed team | MCA International Stadium, Pune | N/A |
| May 22, 2015 | Qualifer 2: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Eliminator | JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi | N/A |
| May 24, 2015 | Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2 | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | May 25, 2015 |
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