The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) got a proper spanking from Rajasthan Royals (RR) opener Yashasvi Jaiswal at their home ground, Eden Gardens, which has dented big time their hopes of reaching the playoffs in IPL 2023.
Knight Riders had won their last two matches and had been high on confidence coming into this match against RR. A total of 149 looked par on what seemed a two-paced track when Knight Riders had been batting and they would have measured their chances against a Royals team that had won only 1 out of their last 6 matches.
However, once Jaiswal took off from the first over of the innings – smashing Nitish Rana for 2 sixes on the first two balls and taking 26 runs off the first over – there was no looking back for the 21-year-old left-handed opener. Jos Buttler’s run-out, too, didn’t deflate the confidence of Jaiswal who went on to smash the fastest-ever half-century in the history of the IPL, off 13 balls, and missing overall T20 record of 12 balls held by Yuvraj Singh.
Jaiswal remained unbeaten on 98 off 47 balls as RR chased down the target of 150 in only 13.1 overs, and boosted their NRR significantly.
While RR jumped up to the 3rd position in the points table with 12 points in 12 matches, KKR are at the 7th position with 10 points in 12 matches and their chances of playoffs are all but over.
How can KKR still qualify for playoffs?
Yes, Kolkata Knight Riders, who have 10 points in 12 matches, are still mathematically alive in the playoff race. But they have only 5% chance of qualifying, which would be like hoping for a miracle as they would need many other results to go their way.
IPL 2023 Playoffs chances:
GT – 99.6%.
CSK – 98%.
MI – 61%.
RR – 45%.
LSG – 43%.
RCB – 22%.
PBKS – 14%.
SRH – 13%.
KKR – 5%.
DC – 2%.
How many points does a team need to qualify for playoffs in IPL 2023?
16 points seem to be the minimum for a team to qualify for playoffs in the 10-team IPL 2023 tournament.
Let’s go back to the 10-team IPL 2022 tournament to see what is the least amount of points for which a team can qualify in the playoffs.
In the 10-team IPL 2022, the team at the 4th spot to reach the playoffs last year – RCB – had 16 points while DC and PBKS with 14 points each just missed the playoffs. A win for both of them would have pipped them over RCB because of their better NRR.
KKR captain Nitish Rana was in all praise for young Jaiswal on his blockbuster knock. Rana said: “You have to praise his innings (on Jaiswal), it was a day when he could do anything he wanted. It was a 180 wicket as I said at the toss, our batting wasn’t great and that’s the result of us dropping 2 points. He was batting well right through the tournament, so I thought a part-time spinner could perhaps make him complacent, that was the plan, but he played superbly and those things do happen.“
