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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in match number 70 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, May 21.
The fact that the last league game of the season will decide which team books the fourth playoff spot is proof of how tightly the games have been contested.
Looking at the points table ahead of the last two league games (Mumbai Indians will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first match of Sunday’s double-header), defending champions GT will finish as table-toppers irrespective of the result of their last league match. They have 18 points from 13 games.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) also confirmed their playoff spots by winning their respective last league clashes on Saturday, May 20. CSK finished second, hammering Delhi Capitals (DC) by 77 runs, while LSG took the third spot with a slender one-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
RCB, MI and Rajasthan Royals (RR), who are all on 14 points each, are in contention for a place in the IPL 2023 playoffs. While RR’s fate is not in their hands, Bangalore and Mumbai will get a chance to seal the last playoff spot on Sunday.
What RCB need to do to qualify for IPL 2023 playoffs
The big advantage for RCB over MI is the fact that they will be playing the second game of the day. Thus, they will be well aware of the exact scenario for them to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs.
The best-case scenario for Bangalore is Mumbai losing to Hyderabad. If that happens and then they beat GT, RCB will be through to the playoffs since Mumbai will be on 14 points, while Bangalore will finish with 16. On the other hand, if MI win and RCB lose, Faf du Plessis and Co. will be knocked out since Mumbai will progress to 16 points.
If both MI and RCB win their respective last league matches, they will be equal on 16 points. However, Bangalore’s superior net run rate of +0.180 gives them a huge advantage over Mumbai's -0.128.
Assuming RCB win by one run against GT, MI will need to beat SRH by at least 79 runs to finish ahead of Bangalore on the net run rate. However, as mentioned above, since RCB will be playing the second game, they will be aware of the exact qualification scenario.
So, even if MI register a massive win over SRH, Bangalore will have the cushion of knowing what they need to do to go past Mumbai's net run rate.
What if both RCB and MI lose?
In the event of both Bangalore and Mumbai losing on Sunday, the latter will be knocked out due to a poor net run rate. The team with the better net run rate between RCB and RR will then qualify for the playoffs.
Bangalore have a net run rate of +0.180, while Rajasthan are on +0.148. Thus, in this scenario, GT’s margin of victory will decide whether Bangalore or Rajasthan qualify for the playoffs.
Will the weather play spoilsport in RCB vs GT match?
As per weather reports, there are chances of rain during the Bangalore-Gujarat match. If the game is rained out and MI beat SRH, then Mumbai will go through to the playoffs. However, if Mumbai lose to Hyderabad, Bangalore will qualify as they will finish on 15 points.
