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3 min readMay 21, 2026 11:59 AM IST
Rajasthan Royals players celebrates the wicket of Nitish Rana of Delhi Capitals during Match 43 of the TATA Indian Premier League 2026 between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, India, on May 1, 2026. (CREIMAS for IPL)
Following Kolkata Knight Riders’ win over the Mumbai Indians in Kolkata, the race for the one remaining play-off spot is heating up in the IPL. With Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans already through, four teams are still in contention and all have just one fixture remaining to play.
The Indian Express take a look at the scenarios…
Rajasthan Royals
With 14 points and a game in hand against Mumbai Indians, they remain the favourites to qualify. Should they win the match at the Wankhede on Sunday afternoon, Rajasthan will make it as the fourth team. Not just that should Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad lose their last match, Rajasthan have an opportunity to finish above them in the second spot provided they improve their net run-rate. Since the match against Mumbai is the penultimate league game, they will have a clear idea of where they stand. In case they fail to win their last game, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders can overtake them with 15 points.
Punjab Kings
Six straight defeats has put them on the brink. Even if they beat Lucknow Super Giants in their last league game on Saturday, they will have to wait till the last league game to find out their fate. In the likelihood of Rajasthan losing, and KKR winning the last game, it will come down to net run-rate as they would be level on points.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Appeared down and out. But have managed to stay in the hunt going into the last game. Playing the last game of the league phase, KKR would know their fate even before they take the field against Delhi Capitals. In case Rajasthan lose their game, but Punjab move to 15 points, then KKR will know what it takes mathematically to make the play-offs. While beating Delhi, they should do so with a margin of 61 runs or more to take the final play-off spot.
Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders celebrates the wicket of Hardik Pandya of Mumbai Indians during Match 65. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav / CREIMAS for IPL)
Chennai Super Kings
The win against Gujarat Titans is a must. From there on, they will need help from all the above mentioned teams. For CSK to qualify they need to win on Thursday by a margin of 25 runs or more and then hope Rajasthan, Punjab and Kolkata don’t win their matches.
Who finishes in the top two?
Though three teams are already through, none of them is assured of a top-two finish yet which will give them two shots at making the final. Should Gujarat beat Chennai, they will end up in the top two. Similarly, RCB can also go top with a win over SRH on Friday. However, if SRH win, then three teams will be tied on 18 points and bring the NRR into play. Even then the chances of RCB finishing in top two is less as they have to lose by at least 87 runs or more.
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