CLT20: Qualification scenarios for Southern Express, Lahore Lions, Northern Knights and Mumbai Indians

The hammering handed out by Northern Knights to Lahore Lions yesterday has given Mumbai Indians more than a decent chance of qualifying for the next round, helped by their own Net Run Rate (NRR) improving victory against Southern Express later in the same day. The surprising factor, though, is that even the Express side, who haven’t won anything so far, can qualify for the next round and the Knights, the table-toppers, can be thrown out of the tournament. Here is a look at who has to do what, to progress: TeamsMatchesWinsLossesPointsNRRNorthern Knights   2   2   0   8+2.684Mumbai Indians   2   1   1   4+0.498Lahore Lions   2   1   1   4-1.496Southern Express   2   0   2   0-1.670Tomorrow’s fixtures: Southern Express v Lahore LionsMumbai Indians v Northern Knights 

#1 Southern Express

Southern Express have to win their match against Lahore Lions and then hope that Mumbai Indians lose to Northern Knights in the night fixture to stand any chance of qualifying for the tournament proper. Even while assuming that is the case, the Knights have to beat Mumbai by 30 runs, say, if they set 161 as the target. Also, the Sri Lankan domestic champions themselves should have got the better of the Lions by 33 runs or more, assuming they score 160 while batting first, for them to reach the second spot.