IPL 2017: 5 ways how Delhi Daredevils can still make it to the playoffs
Delhi Daredevils succumbed to their seventh defeat of the season when they lost to Mumbai Indians by 146 runs last night at Feroz Shah Kotla.
The defeat has dented their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs but more importantly, the huge margin of loss has affected their net-run-rate which becomes a crucial factor during final stages of the league stage.
Interestingly, Zaheer Khan - Delhi’s captain - is still optimistic about a place in the playoffs as he said during the post-match interview, “It's all about winning games, playoffs is still possible."
However, looking at the points table, even Delhi fans might find chances of them reaching the playoffs as next to negligible. But as we have seen in the past, weird things have happened in IPL and hence, Delhi still has more than a chance of finishing in the top four.
For Delhi to qualify, the following five things must happen.
#1 Delhi winning their all remaining games
From here on, every match Delhi play in this IPL is a knockout game for them. The equation is pretty simple for the Daredevils, win every game to stay alive.
After 11 matches, they have eight points courtesy of four wins and are placed at number seven on the points table. They still have three matches left in the league stage and they must win all of these games.
On 10th May, they play against Gujarat Lions at Kanpur. Gujarat has already been knocked out of the IPL and hence Raina and Co. will be playing a fearless brand of cricket as they have nothing to lose. The challenge for Delhi is to restrict the mighty batting line up of Gujarat and the strong bowling of Delhi is certainly capable of it.
The match against Rising Pune Supergiant at home on 12th May will be a huge test for Delhi as Pune at the moment look invincible. Loaded with high-quality players who are in tremendous form, Pune are looking set for a top two finish. On the other hand, the young Delhi team has had an erratic season so far but against Pune, their batting can make a difference.
On 14th May, the last match of Delhi is against Royal Challengers Bangalore who are going through a nightmare in this IPL. Delhi’s strong bowling unit can certainly add pressure on RCB's batting which has often collapsed this season.
These three games in five days are not an easy hurdle to pass but Delhi have the skills and the right set of players who can make the difference at the crunch moments. By winning these three matches, Delhi will earn six points which will push their overall points tally to 14.
With 14 points, Delhi will create a strong chance of finishing in the top four, provided other results go their way.