Sophie Devine’s impressive power-hitting has kept Royal Challengers Bangalore alive in the WPL but UP Warriors’ recent win against Mumbai Indians has boosted their chances of securing the third playoff spot. Even with Divine’s intervention, it might be difficult for the Royal Challengers to stop it. Let’s take a closer look at the qualification chances for the three bottom-placed teams with only four games remaining in the league stage.
_ How things stand! Which two teams will join MI in the playoffs? ,
This is how the points table looks after MI’s first loss and RCB’s massive win yesterday!
_BCCI_ #wpl #TATAWPL #WPL2023 #TeamIndia #IndianArmy pic.twitter.com/pVNkAOOn8E– The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) March 19, 2023
RCB needs better NRR
Royal Challengers Bangalore currently have a Net Run Rate (NRR) of -1.044 after playing seven games, while Gujarat Giants have an NRR of -2.511 after as many games. UP Warriors, on the other hand, have an NRR of -0.117 after playing six games, and they already have six points. Royal Challengers’ chances of qualification depend on them winning their last game and moving towards six points, while Warriors lose their last two games against Giants and Delhi Capitals.
Assuming three results go this way, three teams will be level on six points, and the NRR will come into play. If we assume a difference of 40 runs in each of those games with the winning team scoring 160, the NRR would look like this: Warriors -0.612, Royal Challengers -0.628, and Giants -1.893. So, the Royal Challengers would need a slightly bigger margin in one of those games, for example, a 43-run win instead of 40, to cross the Warriors’ NRR.
Hence, the Royal Challengers still have a chance to qualify but they need a number of things to go their way, both in terms of results and their margin.
gujarat giants almost out
The run rate deficit for Gujarat Giants is so huge that they should start focusing on next season. Even if they manage to score 160 and beat Warriors by 100 runs, they still need Warriors to lose against Capitals by a huge margin of 112 runs to surpass them on NRR Will be Furthermore, the Giants would also need the Royal Challengers to lose their last game against Mumbai, which seems highly unlikely.
UP Warriors One Win Away
If UP Warriors win one of their last two matches, they will seal a place in the playoffs. Even if they lose both games but by a narrow margin, they still have a chance to make it to the playoffs, as mentioned earlier.
Mumbai or Delhi? Who will top the table?
If Capitals beat Mumbai on Monday, both teams will be level on 10 points and their last matches will be on Tuesday: Mumbai against Royal Challengers and Capitals against Warriors. Thus, the Capitals have a chance at the top spot, although their NRR is worse (1.431 as compared to 2.670 for Mumbai). However, if the Capitals lose on Monday, then Mumbai Indians’ top spot will be confirmed.