There’s a sense of excitement as the IPL 2022 nears its decisive end, but also that of worry, with the Kolkata weather putting clouds of uncertainty over the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator.
Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals, who finished first and second respectively in the IPL 2022 League Stage, will face off in Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on May 24, Tuesday. The Lucknow Super Giants will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator at the same venue on Wednesday.
The loser of Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator clash winner will head to Ahmedabad for the second qualifier on Friday, May 27, and the winner will meet the Qualifier 1 winner at the same venue on Sunday, May 29.
Here’s everything you need to know about the IPL 2022 playoffs.
Rain is likely to play a spoilsport in Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator in Kolkata, with chances of rains on Tuesday and Wednesday. The press box at the venue was damaged by a thunderstorm on Saturday, while the persistent rain also led to Rajasthan Royals’ flight getting caught in turbulence.
The weather forecast in Ahmedabad is fairly clear for the weekend with the temperature hovering around the mid thirties and a humidity of around 50%.
A Super Over will decide the outcome of any of the IPL playoffs matches, including the final, if no play is possible in regulation time. If the conditions remain unplayable for a Super Over too, the league stage standings would determine the teams’ further progression.
For example, if the first qualifier between the Gujarat Titans and the Rajasthan Royals ends in a complete washout, GT will progress straight through to the final, while RR will play the winner of the Eliminator in the second qualifier.
There’s an allowance of extra two hours over the usual duration of 200 minutes for the game’s completion in the playing conditions. A full 20-over contest can begin as late as 9:40 PM IST for the Qualifiers and Eliminator and at 10:10 PM IST for the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The two strategic timeouts in each innings would be retained in an event of a delayed start to the full 20-over contest, with the mid-innings break being halved.
Qualifier 1 preview video – #GTvRR 🚨
👉 Head to Head
👉 Probable XI
👉 Interesting matchups
👉 Venue Highlights
👉 Team Analysis
👉 Key players
👉 Gamefactors
👉 Did you know?#IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/Ed3tdyhPYh— Stat Doctor🩺 (@stat_doctor) May 24, 2022
A five-over match in case of a delay will have to begin by 11:56 PM IST and conclude by 12:50 AM with a 10-minute mid-innings break being allotted. The scheduled start for a five-over contest in the final is 12:26 AM IST. There will be no time-outs in case of a five-over contest.
The Super Over would need to start at 12:50 AM IST for the qualifiers and the Eliminator and at 1:20 AM for the final.
There are no reserve days for the qualifiers and the Eliminator, but there’s one for the final. The final is scheduled to start at 8 PM IST, with the preceding closing ceremony pushing the start by 30 minutes from the usual time. In case the match isn’t finished after at least one ball being bowled on the original day, it will resume at that point the following day, as was the case in the first semi-final of the 2019 World Cup between India and New Zealand in Manchester.
There will be a fresh toss on the reserve day in case no play is possible after the toss on the original one. As per the IPL guidelines, the reserve day will have the usual playing time span ie. five hours and 20 minutes including the two extra hours available in case of any disruption or rain.
In case of a complete washout, the Super Over will have to begin by 1.20 am on the reserve day.
