The IPL is really hotting up over in India, and we're closer to knowing who's going to qualify for the playoffs, with the Punjab Kings being the biggest favourite to go all the way.
The last group match is scheduled for 28 May, and you can catch all the action live on Sky Sports Cricket.
Here’s the lowdown on the latest winner market odds, the standings, and which games to look forward to this week.
The IPL Is Heating up This Week
On Wednesday, it’s table-toppers Punjab Kings visiting the Sunrisers Hyderabad. A win for the Kings and they’ll be almost certain of a Top 2 finish, but a win for SRH and it really is all to play for, so all eyes on that one.
If this had been a couple of weeks ago, Punjab would probably have been warm favourites, but it’s SRH who are the form team at the moment, so now it’s odds of 1.9 on both teams. Abishek is 3.75 on the SRH top batsman market, while Klassen is 4.5.
Then there’s another big game on Saturday when the Royals play the Titans. The winner of that will have a good chance of making the Playoffs; the loser will be under pressure to still make the Top 4.
The bookies fancy the Royals here, making them 1.73 to the Titans’ 2.1. Look out for teenage sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi. He’s just 15 years old but has taken the tournament by storm, with a wonderful century against SRH to go with quickfire scores of 78 and 52 in other matches. He’s 4.0 to top score for the Royals here.
Who can still make the Playoffs?
In the past, by this stage of the IPL season, it’s been very obvious as to who’s likely to make the Playoffs and who isn’t.
But this has been a particularly competitive edition, so plenty of teams still have a chance of making the Playoffs and going on to win it.
At the top of the table are the Punjab Kings (3.25 to win the IPL) on 13 points from 9 matches and a strong net run rate. They’ve played a brand of super-aggressive cricket, and with one point and one game fewer than the teams in third, fourth and fifth, you’d expect them to secure that Top 2 finish.
That said, they’ve lost their last two, so they need to make sure they don’t lose their momentum at the worst possible time.
Next up are RCB (3.4) on 12 points from 9 games and the strongest net run rate of anyone. They’ve won three of their last five and have counted on strong performances from Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar with the bat, while Josh Hazlewood has returned from injury to lead the way with the ball.
Then there’s not much to choose between the Sunrisers Hyderabad (5.5) and the Rajasthan Royals (6.5), both on 12 points from 10 matches and with similar net run rates.
Whereas the Royals started extremely well before having a bit of a mid-season collapse, Hyderabad started extremely slowly before recovering. Abishek Sharma and Heinrich Klassen, ranked 1 and 3 at the top of the runs charts, are among their big contributors.
Then it’s the Gujarat Titans (7.5), also on 12 points, but with a negative run rate.
None of CSK 18.0), Delhi Capitals (41.0) or even the Kolkata Knight Riders (101) are completely out of it, but they’d pretty much have to win all their matches, also hoping other results go their way, to still hope to make the Playoffs.
As for Mumbai and LSG, their race is run.
