IPL playoffs: MI still in the hunt for a top-two finish after losses for GT, RCB and PBKS

The race to the IPL 2025 playoffs is over but the four teams that have made it - Gujarat Titans (GT), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI) - are still competing to finish Nos. 1 and 2 in the points table. Only two points separate first and fourth place at the moment and all of them have one game to play.

The teams that finish in the top two play each other in Qualifier 1 on May 29 and the winner of that match goes straight through to the final. The loser of Qualifier 1 gets a second chance to make the final by playing Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator, which is a knockout match between the teams that finish Nos. 3 and 4 in the points table.

Gujarat Titans (Points: 18, net run rate: 0.602) Remaining games: vs CSK (Ahmedabad)

GT remain on top of the points table despite their recent defeat to LSG and that's because both RCB (17 points) and PBKS (17 points) against SRH and DC respectively.

If they win their final league game against CSK on Sunday and move to 20 points, GT will finish right on top of the points table. If they lose, it will leave them vulnerable to being overtaken by two of the three other teams.

But even if GT lose their last game and stay on 18 points, they could still finish in the top two if RCB lose their final league game to LSG on Tuesday and remain on 17 points. If GT lose to CSK, the winner of the game between PBKS and MI will finish higher than them in the points table.

Punjab Kings (Points: 17, net run rate: 0.327) Remaining games: vs MI (Jaipur)

PBKS' defeat to DC on Saturday has left them facing a must-win game against Mumbai to finish in the top two. If they lose, they will be either third or fourth.

Even if they beat MI to get to 19 points it may not be enough for PBKS. They could remain behind GT if GT get to 20 points by beating CSK on Sunday, and they could also finish behind RCB if RCB beat LSG by a big enough margin to get ahead of PBKS on net run rate.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Points: 17, net run rate: 0.255) Remaining games: vs LSG (Lucknow)

RCB have the advantage of playing the last game of the league phase, against LSG on Sunday, which means they will know exactly what they need to do to in terms of net run rate to finish in the top two.

The best scenario for them is if GT (18 points) or PBKS (17 points) lose their final games, which means RCB just need to win against LSG to get into the top two on 19 points without worrying about net run rate. But if GT and PBKS win their final games, then RCB will have to beat LSG by a particular margin to climb into the top two.

Mumbai Indians (Points: 16, net run rate: 1.292) Remaining games: vs PBKS (Jaipur)

MI's chances of finishing in the top two have been out of their hands in the last few days, but three results have gone in their favour to leave the top two spots still open. And they have the best net run rate among the four contenders by some distance.

If MI beat PBKS on Monday to move to 18 points, then they will finish in the top two if one of GT (18 points) or RCB (17 points) lose their final league matches to CSK and LSG respectively. GT would have already played CSK on Sunday by the time MI play PBKS on Monday, and RCB take on LSG on Tuesday