IPL 2018: 4 teams that look likely to qualify for the playoffs after the first half of the season

The Indian Premier League started off on 7 April 2018 and the IPL opener was played between the two most successful IPL teams, Chennai Super Kings, and Mumbai Indians.

The tournament reached its halfway mark and by now, we have quite an idea of which team is doing well and is likely to qualify for the playoffs. Sunrisers Hyderabad are sitting at the top of the table with 12 points, whereas, Delhi Daredevils are at the bottom of the table with just four points.

However, we are likely to see a lot of ups and downs during the long journey of the tournament. But certain teams started the campaign well and are among the top contenders to reach the playoffs.

Let us look at the best four teams in the tournament so far.

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#4 Kolkata Knight Riders

Some of the biggest strikers of the cricket ball are included in KKR's squad, with Andre Russell leading the pack. The West Indian is in a superb batting form and he smashed the ball out of the fence the joint-most number of times (23) this season. Robin Uthhapa, Chris Lynn, and the skipper, Dinesh Kartik are also doing a decent job with the bat.

The bowling line-up of KKR also looks solid and Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla are a part of the team this season as well. The young prodigy, Kuldeep Yadav was also picked by the Kolkata-based side during the IPL auctions.

KKR are sitting at the fourth spot on the points table and are in the contention to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2018.

#3 Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab will be looking to clinch their maiden IPL title.

Kings XI Punjab assembled a team with some of the most exciting T20 players and are considered strong contenders to win the IPL 2018.

They carried their brilliant performance from the auctions to the field and started their campaign with an impressive win against Delhi Daredevils. However, they lost their second game, which was played against RCB. Nevertheless, they saw many positives in that loss and got their winning momentum back after beating CSK in their third game of the campaign.

KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, and Karun Nair are all in a good scoring form, and their skipper, Ravichandran Ashwin along with the teenager, Mujeeb Ur Rahman is doing a decent job with the ball for the Lions.

KXIP are sitting at the third spot on the points table and, with the batting powerhouse they own, Preity Zinta can ponder her team's chances to win their first IPL title.

#2 Chennai Super Kings

CSK is back after serving two years of suspension.

After missing the previous two seasons of the IPL because of the suspension, the Chennai-based team is back and they started from where they left off.

CSK won five out of their first seven matches and are at the second spot on the points table. They are one of the most experienced teams in the IPL and capable of winning games under tough conditions.

They built the team around the core players from the previous seasons and retained MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and Ravindra Jadeja along with signing back Murli Vijay during the auctions. CSK also signed veterans like Harbhajan Singh and Shane Watson to their squad.

With a great start and plenty of talented players, CSK are among the favorites to win the tournament.

#1 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad are doing well this season.

There was a doubt surrounding SRH's performances when their captain, David Warner was ruled out of the tournament for serving the suspension which he obtained for his involvements in the ball tampering incident.

However, the absence of their star batsman didn't affect them much and they started the season on a strong note. SRH have won six of their first eight matches and are currently at the top of the points table.

They have a decent batting unit with Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, in good form. But it is their bowling attacks that's making the difference for them. Siddarth Kaul and Rashid Khan are among the top five wicket-takers with the latter having bowled the most number of dots so far this season.

SRH will be hoping to continue their superb form for the upcoming games and are most likely to qualify for the playoffs.

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