The Women's Premier League (WPL) is entering its final four matches of the season and there is still one more spot up for grabs in the race for the playoffs. Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) have confirmed their spots in the playoffs, while UP Warriorz sits on third with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Gujarat Giants (GG) breathing down their necks.
With a lot at stake, the inaugural edition of the tournament has rightly proven to be an exciting one with none of the final league positions not decided yet.
Here's how RCB can grab third spot
After five straight losses, RCB have bounced back well and are above the Giants by virtue of their better net run rate. RCB have an NRR of -1.044 after seven games and Gujarat Giants have -2.511 after the same number of games. Both are on four points each while third-place Warriorz have played a game lesser and have an NRR of -0.117 with six points.
RCB can make it to third only if they beat table-toppers MI and if UPW are defeated in their final two fixtures against the Giants and the Capitals. Then also, RCB needs to win their match by a margin of over 43 runs to go above Warriorz's NRR.
Gujarat Giants need a miracle
While the equation for RCB is quite straightforward, the Giants need their A game plus two in order to make it to the playoffs. Their final game is against UPW, and a win will do both them and Bangalore a favour. With an NRR of -2.511, they will need to score more than 160 and also beat Warriorz by 100 runs. After this, they will need the Warriorz to lose to Delhi by 112 runs to move ahead of them on NRR.
Plus Royal Challengers Bangalore need to lose their final game to Mumbai. So the equation is not quite so simple for the Giants.
UP Warriorz have the clearest chance
One win in two matches and Alyssa Healy's side can effectively eliminate both RCB and GG from the competition. Even defeats by close calls will take them to the next round.
What about the battle for the top spot between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals?
At the summit, DC and MI will battle for the top spot and direct qualification to the final. Both teams have two matches left, and one against each other. If the Capitals beat Mumbai on Monday, then they will be level on 10 points by MI's better NNR will keep them on top, depending on how big the victory is.
Their last matches are against the Royal Challengers and the Capitals respectively.
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