For the IPL 2024 playoffs, it took a thriller on Saturday to decide which of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) or Chennai Super Kings (CSK) would finish the playoffs line-up until the last league game. A washout in Guwahati the last night—to know who would play whom exactly, but now we know. And it’s a completely different playoff line-up from last season.
IPL Playoff Qualifier 1: KKR versus SRH, May 21, Ahmedabad
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) come into the first qualifier as the table-topper after coming first in the regular season. They finished three points clear of any other person on the table, despite having their last two games cleaned out. Will they be revived or rusty?
If SRH is any guide to go by, a break from cricket is something worth being thankful for. They came in after a ten-day break, partly down to the timetable and part of the way down to the climate, and aced a chase of 215 on Sunday against Punjab Kings. This was just the second time in IPL 2024 that SRH won a game-chasing match.
They’ve played each other just once this season, both team’s first game of the IPL 2024. It was a high-scoring thriller that finished in a last-ball four-run win for KKR at Eden Nurseries.
Player accessibility
The England players who will be going to the upcoming T20 World Cup have been removed ahead of schedule from the IPL, and among them is one of KKR’s lynchpins this season, Sunil Narine’s huge hitting opening accomplice, Phil Salt.
Weather conditions
“Exceptionally blistering with a lot of daylight”—that is the conjecture for Ahmedabad on May 21, and the intensity will scarcely yield as the lights come on for the night match: it’s at least 31C on the day. The forecast says there’s a 0% chance of rain.
IPL Playoffs: RR vs RCB clash in elimination
On April 22, RR was at the top of the table, taking off, having won seven of their initial eight games. At the opposite end of the table, RCB was moping, having lost as many as RR had won, with six of those losses arriving in succession. Quick forward to May 20, and the circle back is dazzling: RR has since won one out of six and lost four straight before Sunday’s waste of time.
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RCB has won six in succession, and hence they go into this knockout experience with all the energy on their side. They’ve played each other once this year, a persuading win for RR in Jaipur, where Virat Kohli hit a century just to be outshone by Jos Buttler.
Player accessibility
This time, RR will be without Buttler, who’s important for the English T20 World Cup contingent that left the tournament. RCB will be without Will Jacks and Reece Topley for similar reasons.
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Weather conditions
The forecast doesn’t change much from Qualifier 1. Ahmedabad ought to stay hot and dry for the eliminator. A few mists are estimated during the day; however, there is just a 5% chance of rain. A low of 29C means another sweltering, sweat-soaked night is coming up for the players.
Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 versus Winner of Qualifier 2, May 26, Chennai
There’s a plausible first-time winner: RCB, finishing a 16-year dry spell in the very season that their women’s group knocked off the women’s premier league title in its second edition. Virat Kohli takes a lap around the Chinnaswamy stadium after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s shocking capability into the playoffs of this season’s IPL.
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Or, on the other hand, RR could bring home their most memorable championship since the debut season, when Shane Warne’s somewhat unfancied group saw off MS Dhoni’s Super Kings in the IPL final.
In IPL for KKR, it would be their first title beginning around 2014 and their third generally speaking. An incredible homecoming for Gautam Gambhir, that would be—he had captained KKR to both their past titles and played for them till 2017. This season, he moved from the Lucknow Super Giants back to KKR as a team mentor.
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