(Cricket news) Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings’ win on Sunday left Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Lucknow Super Giants fighting for the final playoffs berth.
The results in Sunday’s (May 18) double-header saw three teams – Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings – make it through to the playoffs in the ongoing 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Punjab Kings’ 10-wicket win in Jaipur against Rajasthan Royals in the first game left the Shreyas Iyer-led side on the verge of qualification.
Eventually, the Gujarat Titans confirmed the qualification of the three teams after beating the Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets. The result left Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Lucknow Super Giants fighting for the final playoff berth.
How did GT help PBKS and RCB qualify?
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru could have been the first team to make the playoffs had it not been for the washed-out Chinnaswamy game on Saturday against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
With both teams sharing a point each, the defending champions became the fourth team to be eliminated from the race to the playoffs, while RCB were left with only a point short of qualifying for the next round.
Punjab joined Bengaluru on Sunday after beating Rajasthan. Both teams occupied the top two spots with 17 points each. But neither had mathematically made it to the playoffs until Gujarat beat Delhi.
Had Delhi won at home in the second IPL game on Sunday, they would have climbed to the fourth spot in the points table, with 15 points, and Gujarat would have remained on 16 points. This would have implied that there was a scenario where GT, DC and Mumbai Indians could have ended up with more than 17 points, thus eliminating RCB and PBKS, had they lost their remaining two games.
However, with Gujarat securing the win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi remained on 13 points from 12 games. And with the Axar Patel-led side having one of their remaining matches against Mumbai, only one of them can make it past the 17-point mark. Hence, both RCB and PBKS qualified for the playoffs, with two games in hand.
What MI, DC, LSG need to do for the final playoffs spot?
Mumbai Indians – 14 points in 12 games (Matches remaining: vs DC and PBKS)
The Hardik Pandya-led side is the best-placed team among the three in the battle. If they win both their remaining matches, they will qualify. In fact, Mumbai can guarantee their qualification if they can hand Delhi another loss at home, while Lucknow loses one of their last three matches.
However, if they lose against Delhi, even a win against Punjab in their final game will not be enough to qualify, provided DC win both their remaining games.
Delhi Capitals – 13 points in 12 games (Matches remaining: vs MI and PBKS)
Delhi had started their IPL 2025 campaign on a great note, winning all their first four games. For the better part of the season, they remained in the top half. However, a loss in five of their last eight matches found them outside the top four and now on the verge of elimination. Their only shot at qualification is to win both their games. However, a defeat in any will end their season.
Lucknow Super Giants – 10 points in 11 games (Matches remaining: vs SRH, vs GT and vs RCB)
Despite having the most number of games left out of the three, Lucknow are the least favourite to make it through, especially after their topsy-turvy show this season, in which they lost four of their last five matches. Even if they win all their remaining games, LSG will still end up with 16 points, implying they will need Delhi and Mumbai to lose points.
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