The ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is slowly moving towards the playoff stage of the competition. In the last phase of the league, every now and then, a single match has become very important for all franchises. The Royals stood up to this challenge and defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 9 wickets in a one-sided fashion in what was a do-or-die match.
With this victory for the Royals, the race for the IPL 2023 playoffs has opened up. At the same time, this has made it difficult for teams to make it to the playoffs, especially for a team like KKR.
12 points in Rajasthan's name
Talking about RR, they made the chase of 150 achievable in just 13.1 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal's unbeaten stormy innings of 98 runs in 47 balls was coupled with skipper Sanju Samson's innings of 48 runs. This took RR to third place on the points table, having also improved their net run rate (0.633). The Royals now have 12 points in 12 matches with six wins and as many losses to their name.
How can they still make it to the playoffs?
If RR want a place in the playoffs of IPL 2023, then they will have to win both the remaining matches. Of these, one match will be played at their home ground of Jaipur while the second and last match of the league stage is to be played at Dharamshala ground.
If Rajasthan registers a win in both these matches, then at the end of the league stage, their total will be 16 points with a positive net run rate. They can still get a place in the playoffs. Because of this, Sanju Samson's team will have to win the remaining two matches. In which the 13th match is to be played against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with Virat Kohli and the last league stage match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
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