Mumbai Indians would be disappointed with their tactical errors and fielding mishaps as they failed to hold Gujarat Titans while defending a sub-par score in a rain-hit game on Tuesday, May 6. The result marked the first defeat for the Mumbai Indians in their last seven games, but overall it was their fifth loss, and that has thrown spanner in their mission to finish in the top two after a six-match winning streak. On the other hand, the Gujarat Titans reinforced their chances of making the playoffs, reaching the 16-point mark.

The defeat meant that the Mumbai Indians slipped to fourth place on the table with 14 points and have just two games remaining. With teams like Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in the fray and most of them set to play each other, 16 points might not be enough to confirm a spot in the playoffs and hence, Mumbai Indians have to win both those games, against these two teams only. If MI are able to beat both the Kings and the Capitals, they will get to 18 points and a top-four spot will surely be confirmed.

However, the top two may not be guaranteed since RCB and Gujarat Titans (both at one and two currently) are favourites to clinch those top two spots. Hence, to get an extra chance of making it to the IPL final, the Mumbai Indians will not only have to win their remaining couple of games but also hope that either RCB or Gujarat Titans lose at least two of their remaining three games.

Similarly, Punjab Kings can get to 21 points while Delhi Capitals 19, but since the latter are set to face all three of GT, PBKS and MI who are in the fray, they will cut each other’s points on the way to qualification. 

In other words, RCB and GT are the most comfortably placed in the table with a chance to finish in the top two, while Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are in the running for the remaining two spots and are likely to cancel out each other’s points.