IPL 2019: 4 teams that are likely to qualify for the playoffs after the halfway stage
The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League is underway and after the match between Bangalore and Punjab, the tournament will begin it's second half which will mostly consist of rivalry matches.
The table seems to stand pretty evenly after 3 weeks of intense matches. Chennai is the only team which seems confident about making it to the play offs. They have been superb under the guidance of MS Dhoni, who himself has found his form back with two extremely quick match-saving fifties under a lot of pressure.
Kolkata seemed to be right on the spot after their first few matches, but the failures of their middle order have exposed their weakness and their inability to defend targets have also resulted in a couple of losses.
Delhi, Punjab and Mumbai look mostly settled and have had a couple of close matches including a super over and some last ball thrillers. Their bowling and batting departments have performed well. Though all these 3 teams have had some issues, they have mostly addressed the issues and fixed them.
Hyderabad has been a very peculiar team this IPL. Though they have the best names on paper and the individuals have performed, they haven't quite clicked as a team which is why they are still sitting at just 3 wins.
Rajasthan and Bangalore meanwhile seem out of contention for the play offs. Both have started the tournament quite poorly and they do not look good enough to make it to the top 4 teams.
The 4 teams thus who are most likely to make it to the play offs after the first half of the season are:
#1 Chennai Super Kings
The Yellow Army, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has made it to the play offs every year that they have played. Though they returned from a two-year ban last year, they won the trophy and are at the top of the table even this year. They are currently sitting with 14 points and have lost only one match. They seem to be the top contenders for this year's trophy as their weakness hasn't been exposed yet and they play well as a team.
MSD's captaincy has been on point and he has managed his team very well. He has made extremely few changes to his top order, with only Faf du Plessis being the late entrant from their first match. Their bowlers have always stepped up and the man Dhoni himself has been on the top of his game.
With a lot of experience and a set of match winners in their team, Chennai Super Kings look the strongest team to get to the playoffs and just another win in the season will help them get there.
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