IPL 2024 Qualification Scenarios: How can Lucknow Super Giants qualify for playoffs after losing to KKR?

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) registered their third loss of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 28 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After being put in to bat first, LSG posted a decent score of 161/7 in their allotted 20 overs with Nicholas Pooran top scoring with his knock of 45 (32).

In reply, KKR comfortably chased down the target in just 15.4 overs as Philip Salt (89* off 47) and captain Shreyas Iyer (38* off 38) guided their team home with their unbeaten 120-run stand and sealed an eight-wicket win for their team. Following their loss, LSG now find themselves at the middle of the points table on the fifth spot with three wins from six matches having six points to their name.

Also Read: IPL 2024: KKR vs LSG Match 28 Highlights: Unmissable video recap, turning points, match analysis, stats, and more

The KL Rahul-led side started its campaign with a 20-run loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) but made a brilliant comeback with three consecutive victories against Punjab Kings (PBKS), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT). However, their campaign has once again gone astray after back-to-back losses against Delhi Capitals (DC) and KKR.

Despite, their consecutive losses, LSG still have a positive net run rate of +0.038. However, the road ahead is tougher for them as they have back-to-back fixtures against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) both home and away on April 19 and 23 respectively. Lucknow will have the herculean task of bouncing back to winning ways against the defending champions who’re coming into the fixture after winning their last two fixtures.

LSG to play four out of the next five games at home

After CSK, LSG will play three consecutive fixtures at home against RR, Mumbai Indians (MI) and KKR. Hence, the KL Rahul-led side will have an advantage of playing in familiar conditions in four out of the next five games and one away fixture at Chennai which has similar conditions as Lucknow.

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Lucknow will hope to register at least three wins in their upcoming five games to stay alive in the playoffs race. They can easily qualify with five more wins from their remaining eight matches and hence can’t afford any leniency going forward in the tournament.