IPL 2024 Playoffs: KKR vs SRH in Qualifier 1, RCB-RR clash in Eliminator.

Can KKR vs SRH keep the flavour of their season without Salt? How much of a loss Buttler will be to RR? Is this the RCB’s year at last?

The IPL 2024 playoffs are almost here. Which Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) or Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team would finish the KKR vs SRH playoff lineup was decided in a thrilling match on Saturday. It wasn’t until the very last league game, a washout in Guwahati last night, that we found out who would play who, but we now know. Additionally, none of the top four seeds from 2023 make the cut, making this a totally different playoff lineup than it was the previous year.

Qualifier 1: KKR vs SRH, May 21, Ahmedabad

For the first time, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have concluded the league phase as the top team heading into the first qualifying round. Despite losing their last two games, they ended up with three more points than any other team. Will they be rusted or renewed? If SRH is any indication, taking a vacation from cricket can be beneficial. They returned after a 10-day break, which they attributed to both the weather and the schedule, and they successfully chased 215 against Punjab Kings on Sunday. In IPL 2024, this was SRH’s only other victory in a game they chased.

• Previous meeting: They’ve played each other only once this season, both team’s first game of IPL 2024. It was a high-scoring thriller that ended in a last-ball four-run win for KKR at Eden Gardens.

• Player availability: The England players who will be going to the upcoming T20 World Cup have withdrawn early from the IPL, and among them is one of KKR’s lynchpins this season: Sunil Narine’s big-hitting opening partner, Phil Salt.

• Weather forecast: “Very hot with plenty of sunshine” – that’s the forecast for Ahmedabad on May 21, and the heat will hardly relent as the lights come on for the evening match: it’s a minimum of 31C on the day. The forecast says there’s a 0% chance of rain.

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Eliminator: RR vs RCB, May 22, Ahmedabad

RR had won seven of their opening eight games, and on April 22 they were flying high at the top of the table. Conversely, RCB was struggling at the other end of the table, having lost as many games as RR had won, including six straight losses. When we fast-forward to May 20, we see an astounding turnaround: prior to Sunday’s washout, RR had won one out of the previous six games and lost four. With six straight victories under their belt, RCB enters this knockout match with the upper hand.

• Previous meeting: They’ve played each other once this year, a convincing win for RR in Jaipur, where Virat Kohli hit a century only to be outdone by Jos Buttler.

• Player availability: This time, RR will be without Buttler, who’s part of the English T20 World Cup contingent that’s left the tournament. RCB will be without Will Jacks and Reece Topley for the same reasons.

• Weather forecast: The forecast doesn’t change much from Qualifier 1. Ahmedabad should remain hot and dry for the Eliminator.

Qualifier 2: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of the Eliminator, May 24, Chennai

• Weather forecast: Some clouds are forecast during the day, but only a 5% chance of rain. A low of 29C, so another hot, sweaty evening in store for the players.

Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2, May 26, Chennai

There’s a possibility of a first-time winner: RCB, ending a 16-year drought in the same season that their women’s team knocked off the Women’s Premier League title in its second edition.

Or RR could win their first title since the inaugural season when Shane Warne’s relatively unfancied team saw off MS Dhoni’s Super Kings in the final.

For KKR it would be a first title since 2014, and their third overall. Quite the homecoming for Gautam Gambhir, that would be – he had captained KKR to both their previous titles, and played for them till 2017. This season, he shifted from Lucknow Super Giants back to KKR as team mentor.

SRH’s only title (not to confuse them with the other franchise from Hyderabad, Deccan Chargers, who won it in 2009) came in 2016 – can they add to that?

• Weather forecast: Not much change from Qualifier 2, but slightly hotter even (min. 30 C) and even less chance of rain (4%).