With two games left in the league stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, the last three spots of the Playoffs is yet to be finalized.
Statistically, this year’s IPL is the most closely fought one, with the disparity of points between the team at the top and bottom being the least.
After the eccentric results of the by-gone weekend, the last three spots of the Playoffs may well be decided on the final delivery of the last league stage match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Sharjah on Tuesday.
The teams in the middle of the points table will keep a close eye on the result, especially the losers of the preceding game between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
With Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) already out of the race, the ‘Orange Army’ has the perfect opportunity to recite a tale of ‘coming back from the ashes’ and booking their berth in playoffs.
SRH have accumulated 12 points in the 13 games they featured in, and is currently placed fifth in the points table.
They have a bright chance of progressing into the playoffs as they have a better run-rate than KKR, who are placed fourth with 14 points, having played all their games.
SRH also have a chance of leapfrogging into the third place as they have a better run-rate than DC and RCB. The equation is simple for David Warner and Co., i.e, to win the game and seal a playoff spot.
Warner’s men have found winning form just at the fag-end of the tournament. They have lost only two out of the last five games played.
KKR, on the other hand, will hope that MI ends their league stage by scoring 20 points. Stand-in captain Kieron Pollard has done remarkably well to lead the side in the absence of their talisman Rohit Sharma.
MI will be looking to keep their winning momentum ahead of the all-important Qualifier fixture on Thursday.
Predicted XI:
SRH:
David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
MI:
Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard (c), Jayant Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
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