Three Teams Battle it out for the Last Playoff Spot in IPL 2026
Three teams - the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have a realistic chance of finishing fourth going into the final weekend of the IPL 2026 league stage, while Delhi Capitals (DC) only have a theoretical possibility.
To secure the final playoff position, the teams must do the following.
Rajasthan Royals
RR is solely responsible for their chances of qualifying. Regardless of other outcomes, they will qualify with 16 points if they beat MI on Sunday. Only if PBKS and KKR both lose their most recent games will RR have a chance, even if they lose against MI. DC will move up to 14 points as a result of KKR's loss, but DC will find it nearly impossible to close the run rate differential—the total of the margins of RR's loss and DC's victory must be approximately 230 runs.
Punjab Kings
Even though PBKS has lost their last six games, they will still qualify for the playoffs provided they defeat LSG on Saturday, finish higher than KKR on NRR, and RR loses against MI on Sunday. Even if they defeat LSG by just one run, KKR will still need to defeat DC by at least 52 runs to surpass PBKS' NRR due to their better NRR.
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR must win by 61 runs if PBKS wins by 10 runs. If KKR defeats DC and RR and PBKS lose their most recent games, they will undoubtedly qualify. It will depend on net run rates if both PBKS and KKR win and RR loses. As previously stated, KKR will need to defeat PBKS by a significant margin in order to surpass their run rate.
DC's largest IPL victory margin is 97 runs when batting first and 67 balls to spare when chasing, but they will need to do considerably better to have any hope of finishing in fourth place, aside from hoping that MI crushes RR and PBKS loses to LSG.
Our Take
It would be interesting to see which of the three teams makes it through for the final spot to face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator.