Sunrisers Hyderabad have two more games left in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. The game on Thursday against Gujarat Titans is key for Pat Cummins and his men as they will move past Chennai Super Kings to the 3rd spot in the IPL 2024 points table.
A win over Gujarat Titans will also mean that Royal Challengers Bengaluru will have to beat Chennai Super Kings to make it to the playoffs. The win on Thursday will also mean that SRH will qualify for the final four stages of the tournament
There is a good chance that Sunrisers Hyderabad can even play the first qualifying game of the IPL 2024 season. Despite suffering a mid-season hiccup, the IPL 2016 champions stand on the cusp of a major opportunity during this year’s tournament.
Can SRH qualify for the playoffs as one of the top two teams?
The equation for Sunrisers Hyderabad is simple, they first have to beat Gujarat Titans on Thursday. Pat Cummins and his team will play Punjab Kings in their final league phase game of the season.
If Sunrisers Hyderabad wins both their final two games of the season, they will have 18 points from 14 matches. The men in orange have a good net run rate but they will have to better it if they have to make it to the top two places in the points table.
Sunrisers Hyderabad also have to make sure that Rajasthan Royals lose their final game of the season to Kolkata Knight Riders. If the Royals win, they too will have 18 points and this is where the net run rate will come into the picture.
The one thing that is going in the way of SRH is the fact that their Net Run-Rate (+0.406) is better compared to RR, who have (+0.273). Even if SRH happen to lose one of the two games they have in hand, they must make sure that they do not lose it by a huge margin.
Rain has delayed the start of the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans. While the SRH side are more or less through to the playoffs, the Titans are out of the tournament after their own game against KKR was abandoned due to rain.