Navigating the WPL 2025 Landscape: A Blueprint for RCB Playoff Success and DC Dominance

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had a strong start to their title defence, with a record-breaking 202-run chase against Gujarat Giants and a comfortable eight-wicket win against Delhi Capitals (DC). However, their struggles on home turf have put them in a precarious position, as they have lost all four matches at their home ground in Bengaluru. RCB now find themselves on the verge of being eliminated in the league stage.

RCB, who have only four points after six matches, can reach a maximum of eight points by winning their last two games against UP Warriorz and Mumbai Indians (MI). Giants and MI are already placed on eight points, while DC are out of RCB's reach with ten. Despite being well behind, RCB's fate is still in their own hands. So far, DC have sealed a place in playoffs while UP Warriorz are out of the race.

Must-win scenario for RCB

RCB's chances in the WPL 2025 playoffs will end as early as Saturday if they go down against Warriorz. But if they win on Saturday, they will closely follow the game between MI and Giants to know whose net run rate (NRR) they must go past to qualify for the playoffs. Giants currently have a better NRR than MI, and an added advantage for RCB is that their last match will be against MI only.

Related

Alana King is sticking to her big guns, come Tests or T20

The rise and roar of Kashvee Gautam

Mooney confident Gujarat Giants can challenge for WPL playoffs

RCB in must-win territory against out-of-contention Warriorz

Deol 70*, Meghna three-for lift Giants to No. 2

RCB are nearly 60 runs behind MI's NRR but will need to beat them by only 20 runs if they can win against UPW by ten runs and MI lose to Giants by the same margin. However, going past Giants will be more challenging for RCB - their collective margin of wins against UPW and MI needs to be around 62 runs if Giants lose to MI by only ten runs.

Are Delhi Capitals through to the final?

DC ended their league phase as the table-toppers with five wins, but their direct qualification to the final for the third straight season will have to wait as both MI and Giants can move ahead of them. MI can finish on the top if they win both matches, while Giants can go past DC if they can beat MI by a decent margin.

Giants must win by 17 runs or 12 balls (for a first-innings total of 180) against MI to go ahead of DC's NRR. On the other hand, MI are about 30 runs behind DC, which means if they lose one of their two matches by ten runs, they should have won the other by around 40 runs.