Mumbai Indians - Played 11, Points 14
Remaining matches: vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (October 28), vs Delhi Capitals (October 31), vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (November 3)
Rajasthan Royals - Played 12, Points 10
Remaining matches: vs Kings XI Punjab (October 30), Kolkata Knight Riders (November 1)
Mumbai Indians' loss against the Rajasthan Royals has not hampered Mumbai's chances of qualifying for the playoffs. They still need to win just one of their remaining three matches to make the final four.
The Royals, however, are now at sixth place with 10 points, and can reach a maximum of 14. By beating Mumbai on Sunday, the Royals have also knocked the Chennai Super Kings out of the playoff race for the first time in the history of the competition. Despite the heroics by Ben Stokes to help get the Royals over the line, their playoff spot will still depend on how the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Kings XI Punjab and the Sunrisers Hyderabad go in their remaining fixtures.
The Royals' next two games are against the Kings XI and the Knight Riders; both of them are placed above the Royals and also take on each other on Monday. If the Kings XI beat the Knight Riders and then both the teams lose their last two games, the Royals can qualify without net run rate coming into play as they will reach 14 points, whereas the Kings XI and the Knight Riders will have 12.
If the Kings XI or the Sunrisers manage to reach 14, though, the Royals have a very slim chance to make the final four on net run rate, as theirs is a poor -0.505. The only team's NRR they can possibly match is the Knight Riders' (-0.476), so they will hope to compete only with the Knight Riders for that fourth spot.
