Can SRH qualify for playoffs 2022: Does KKR have a chance to qualify after win vs SRH today?

Can SRH qualify for playoffs 2022: The Kolkata Knight Riders were at their clinical best with the ball in hand during their match versus SRH.

An Andre Russell show with both bat and the ball meant that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) managed to get another minute lease of life as far as their playoffs qualification is concerned.

During the 61st match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League at the MCA Stadium in Pune, SRH were handed their 5th consecutive loss by KKR by as many as 54 runs, to slip down to the 8th spot in the points table.

En route the target of 178 on what was a challenging pitch to bat on, the SRH batters, barring the left-handed youngster Abhishek Sharma (43 off 28), crumbled akin an innocuous paper ball, to bundle up for mere 123/8 in their 20 Overs.

Andre Russell (4-0-22-3) was the pick of the KKR bowlers, with none of the other bowlers, but Sunil Narine (at 8.5 runs per Over) managing to leak runs at more than 6.2 rpo.

Earlier, despite a poor middle-Overs batting phase, KKR were handed a power finish by Sam Billings (34 off 29), and Andre Russell (49* off 28) in particular, as the duo managed to smash 58 runs in the final five Overs, and take the total to above-par 177/6 in 20 Overs.

Can SRH qualify for playoffs 2022

A heavy 54-run loss has pummeled SRH to the 8th spot in the points table, with 7 losses from 12 matches. Although the road is officially not over yet for the ‘Orange Army’, their future in the league no longer remain altogether in their own hands, as the maximum they can collect is 14 points, in case they win their two remaining league matches.

With them now also having the second lowest Net Run Rate (-0.270) amongst all the teams, they would now have to 1) Win both their remaining matches by a good enough margin, and 2) Expect other teams’ results to go their way as well, with a hope that a maximum of only one team from here on manages to collect 16 points after the end of the league stage.

Does KKR have a chance to qualify?

As far as KKR is concerned, their situation too remains the same, but a better NRR (+0.160) post today’s win versus SRH has meant that, if a situation arrives where one team does make it through to the next round with 14 points, they would have the winning bet on that front.

But, for that to happen, the Shreyas Iyer-led side will have to – 1) win their last league match versus LSG, and 2) hope RR (14 points with two matches to go) and RCB (14 points with one match to go) don’t manage to win one match each to go through with 16 points.