Cricket
ESPNcricinfo staff 3y

IPL 2020 scenarios: RCB's chance to go top of the table

IPL, Cricket

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Played 10, Points 14

Remaining matches: vs Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Capitals

Chennai Super Kings - Played 11, Points 6

Remaining matches: vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, v Kolkata Knight Riders, v Kings XI Punjab

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have the opportunity to go to the top of the points table if they beat Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. A win would take them to 16 points, two ahead of the Delhi Capitals with both teams having played 11 matches. They will also be ahead of Mumbai Indians, and remain that way unless Mumbai win the second game of the day, when they take on the Rajasthan Royals.

Two results in past week have worked to bridge the net run rate gap that the Royal Challengers have with the Capitals: while the Royal Challengers beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by a big margin, the Knight Riders in turn beat the Capitals, again, by a big margin. If the Royal Challengers now beat the Super Kings comfortably, they can narrow the gap even further and put themselves in a good position for a top-two finish.

The Royal Challengers have matches remaining against the other top teams, Mumbai and the Capitals, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, and therefore picking up two points against the badly out-of-form Super Kings will be significant for them.

As for the Super Kings, for all practical purposes, they are out of the race for the playoffs. They can reach at most 12 points, but will need a lot of results to go their way and also overcome a massive net run-rate difference to then progress. However, the Super Kings can spoil the Royal Challengers' plans and create fresh opportunities for others in the points table with a victory.

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