MI's 27-run win over Gujarat Titans has hurt the chances of the bottom five teams—RCB, KKR, PBKS, SRH, and DC—to reach the IPL 2023 playoffs. Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Titans by 27 runs on Friday (May 12).

The win over GT was MI's seventh in 12 matches played this year.

With a total of 14 points, MI sits in third place in the IPL 2023 points table.

These five teams already sit outside the top four, and now with MI’s win, their chances of reaching the playoffs are on a knife’s edge. Their fate is no longer in their own hands, and apart from winning their own matches, they also must pray for some favourable results from other matches.

Here’s how MI’s win impacted the chances of the bottom five teams:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: With 10 points from 11 matches played so far, With 10 points from 11 matches played so far, RCB sits in sixth position in the IPL 2023 points table. They can reach the maximum of 16 points if they win their remaining three matches. But even then, they are not sure of a place in the playoffs. GT, CSK, MI, and LSG can all achieve as many as 17 points, which will rule RCB out of the tournament.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana’s Nitish Rana’s KKR has 10 points from 12 matches, and they can reach a maximum total of 14. MI already has a total of 14 points, and GT and CSK are at 16 and 15 points, respectively. So KKR can’t catch them. They can only reach the eliminator, but for that, they have to win their last two matches and hope the RCB, LSG, RR, SRH, PBKS, and DC fail to achieve 14 points.

Punjab Kings: Like RCB, PBKS also have 10 points from 11 matches, and their situation is exactly similar. Even three wins in three matches won’t be enough for them, and they have to keep a keen eye on the results of other teams.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: SRH have 8 points from 10 matches and can reach a maximum of 16. But like RCB and PBKS, they also must hope that GT, CSK, MI, and LSG don’t win all their remaining matches because if they do, SRH cannot qualify.

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