New Delhi, May 19 : As we draw closer to the end of the league stage in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, the race for the playoffs has gotten quite interesting. With RCB, GT, and SRH having already booked their places in the top 4, there is now just one remaining spot for which five teams are battling it out.

RCB was the first team to officially book their spot after a convincing win against Punjab Kings in Dharamsala on Sunday. SRH booked their spot the next day after a victory over Chennai Super Kings in Chepauk which also confirmed Gujarat Titans' playoff berth. Two teams, Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants, are officially out of the running.

RCB remain the favorites for a top two finish. They will finish in the top two regardless of their result against SRH if CSK beat GT on the 21st or if RCB defeat SRH in Hyderabad on the 22nd . If they do win their final game, they will finish first with 20 points, and even a loss shouldn't put them outside of the top two with a healthy net run rate of 1.065 as GT would need to defeat CSK by an extremely large margin to surpass them.

It is up to Gujarat Titans to win their final game and hoping SRH lose to RCB to get into the top two. If they do win but lose their game, then a top two place will be decided by the net run rate among them and SRH, with all potentially on 18 points.

SRH were already qualified after a brilliant win over CSK and look set to push GT for the top two if they beat RCB. They will automatically finish second in the table if they beat RCB and GT lose their game, but it would go down to net run rate if GT win.

However, PBKS still remain very much alive for the fourth playoff spot despite their loss against RCB. PBKS can still finish with a maximum of 15 points and require both a win against LSG and a loss for Rajasthan Royals at least once, while Kolkata Knight Riders also need to falter and finish below PBKS on net run rate. Even a win with 13 points is plausible if other results go PBKS' way (e.g. RR losing at least one of their two matches and CSK losing both their games).

RR look favorites among the chasing teams as their fate is in their own hands. They play excluded sides LSG and MI in their last two matches and should secure their qualification spot if they win both to finish on 16 points.

However, even 14 points could be sufficient if CSK, PBKS and Delhi Capitals falter while MI beat KKR. The loss to SRH was a bad one for

CSK as they now stand at 12 points with one game to play against GT and will finish on 14 if they beat GT. The top two finish between them and DC is likely going to go down to net run rate as CSK currently holds the advantage.

DC's chance of qualification seems minimal because of their poor net run rate of -0.871 and require a win over KKR to get 14 points and an LSG win over PBKS while praying RR and CSK both lose their remaining two and one match respectively and GT beat CSK.

KKR have two games remaining in the tournament and are mathematically still alive. They could finish on 15 points if RR lose one match and PBKS either lose their game or finish below KKR on net run rate. They may well finish on 13 points if they manage to beat DC while a loss for RR in both their remaining fixtures and a PBKS loss to LSG would also help KKR qualify.

There are still 7 matches remaining and the final playoff spot looks like it could be very competitive while a tight battle for the top two could make the remaining part of the IPL 2026 campaign extremely exciting.

/IANS