Explained: How Kolkata Knight Riders Could Make It To The Playoffs

Kolkata Knight Riders will be well aware of the fact that their destiny is no more in their hands when they lock horns against high-flying Rajasthan Royals in their final league game on Sunday. With 6 wins from 13 games, the two-time IPL champions are currently languishing at the seventh spot in the points table.

Apart from them, as many as five teams are in contention for a playoff spot and the Kolkata-based outfit has the worst net run-rate among all of them. Thus a win will be just not enough for the Eoin Morgan-led side to progress to the playoffs.

How could Kolkata Knight Riders qualify:

The scenario is quite straightforward for Kolkata Knight Riders to qualify. First, they will have to beat Rajasthan Royals on Sunday and then hope that both SunRisers Hyderabad as well Kings XI Punjab lose their respective final league games to finish with 6 wins.

In such a case, Kolkata Knight Riders will be one of the four teams to end the league stage with at least seven games and will make it to the next round without the net run-rate coming into play.

But if both Kings XI and the Sunrisers or even one of them win their last game, Kolkata Knight Riders will have to win by a big enough margin which lifts their NRR above that of the loser of the Delhi Capitals-Royal Challengers Bangalore match, or the Kings XI.

In any case, the minimum margin for them in any of these situations will be to win by around 75 runs. Hence, their best bet is to win the final league game and hope that both Kings XI and SunRisers lose their remaining one game in the league stage.

Also Read: Explained: How Royal Challengers Bangalore Could Still Miss Out On A Playoffs Spot

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