Now, with every IPL match, the battle to make it to the playoffs gets interesting. So far, the only Gujarat Titans have secured their place in the playoffs, while Mumbai and Chennai have been left out of the playoff race. That is, there is now a competition between seven teams for the remaining three playoff spots. Among them, teams from Lucknow and Rajasthan are leading this race. RCB is also currently included in the top 4 teams in the points table, but after the loss to Punjab Kings, their path has become a bit difficult.
RCB is fourth in the points table with 7 wins from 13 games. Due to Punjab losing by 54 runs, his net run has become -0.323. In such a situation, if RCB lose their last game of the league phase against Gujarat Titans, then with 7 wins and this negative streak rate, it will be difficult to reach the playoffs because the other 6 teams in the league (Lucknow, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Hyderabad and Kolkata) still have a chance of reaching the playoffs by registering 7 or more wins. The net run rate of all these teams is better than RCB.
Even if RCB win their last game of the league phase against Gujarat Titans, their negative net run rate may create problems for them. Because the other 5 teams in the league (Lucknow, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab and Hyderabad) also have a chance of reaching the playoffs by winning 8 or more games. However, if we look at the equations, only a team from Delhi, Punjab and Hyderabad can win 8 matches. Still, there are three teams left in the tiebreaker, so here, along with Lucknow, Rajasthan, any team from Delhi, Punjab or Hyderabad can enter with 8 wins and a better run rate. That is to say, it will be necessary for RCB to win their last game by a good margin.