Welcome to the later stages of the IPL! It's “Squeaky bum time” as Sir Alex Ferguson once described the later parts of a sporting contest.

Moving seamlessly from Scottish football manager to former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, let’s consider the following

The Known Knowns

Despite their stuttering late season form, both Sunrisers and Chennai SK will definitely be in the semi-finals
Delhi Daredevils on the other hand are definitely out despite beating CSK last night and ensuring that SRH just need to equal or better CSKs result this weekend to ensure they win the round robin stage

The Known Unknowns

The 5 other teams are all competing for the last 2 places

KKR know that a win will guarantee them a spot in the semis, however with their inferior net run rate a defeat could well see them slip out of the top 4 spots. They play SRH this weekend who have lost their last 2 games

Mumbai currently occupy 4th spot. While they started the season poorly the advantage they do have in losing all those tight games is that their net run rate is better than any other side in the competition. A win wouldn’t guarantee them a spot in the knockout stages but it is unlikely that sides like Rajasthan and Kings XI would be able to overtake in NRR terms. They play bottom team Delhi in the final game. You’d assume that’s an advantage but of course DD have nothing to lose themselves and that can be a dangerous prospect in T20.

Rajasthan Royals & RCB – These 2 teams have effectively entered the knockout stages already as they play each other in just a couple of hours time. Defeat for either and they are definitely out. A win and they will both be watching the remaining fixtures and hoping for results to go their way. Calculators at the ready, this one could go down to winning margins and how quickly teams are able to score.

Kings XI were looking pretty good early in the season but now find themselves 2nd bottom. They will need to win and win very big to stand any chance of getting a semi final spot now. They’d almost certainly need Mumbai to lose and for the RR v RCB to be a tight game or even a tie/NR. Stranger things have happened…….

On to the team of the week

All images and below mentioned stats from espncricinfo

S.Narine

I’ve had him in the team on multiple occasions but not always as opener. KKR made a similar mistake in the middle of the season when they shifted him down the order to make way for more established batsmen. It was a mistake then and it would be a mistake for me to do it in my team. He is striking at 182 (the 3rd best Strike rate of any batsmen with more than 100 runs). This week he lead the charge with 75 from 36 balls as KKR racked up their highest ever IPL score and then followed it up with 21 from 7 balls to set-up an easy run chase against RR. Add to that his ability with the ball and it’s very difficult to leave him out of any side right now. Indeed, you could go as far as saying he is the most valuable player in the entire tournament.

KL Rahul

In the side yet again, he is currently the orange cap wearer with 652 runs. Unfortunately for him it’s likely that some of his rivals for that crown (they are batting 3 & 4 in my team this week!) will have a couple more games than him in which to accrue runs. At the moment he is playing something of a loan hand for Kings XI. The middle order in particular has failed to deliver and the Universe Boss’s early season form has quickly evaporated.

A Rayudu

Had gone of the boil a little in the middle stages of tournament but returned to form this week with an unbeaten century against a very strong SRH bowling attack and then a fifty against Delhi last night which should have set-up a win. Coming into form again at just the right time both for his side and for his own personal chances of making the Indian limited overs team that tours England this summer.

K.Williamson

Jos Buttler equaled a record set by the great Virender Shewag this week (see below) and Kane Williamson might just have one eye on breaking it himself. In fact, he is unlucky not to have done so already as he has scored 5 half centuries in his last 6 games. The only innings in which he failed to pass the fifty mark was when he made an unbeaten 32 chasing down a below average score set by Delhi Daredevils. He will hope that his side’s recent blip in form is only temporary and that they can get back to winning ways, firstly by securing the league title and then winning their 2 knockout games on their way to an overall championship. It would be no less than he deserves.

AB Devilliers

RCB missed him during the middle stages of the tournament that much is obvious. He’s back now and with his return RCBs hopes of making a late charge for the title have also returned. Always beware the side that scrape into the final play-off spot – have De Villiers, Kohli, et al timed this to perfection?

Moeen Ali

There’s a lot of love for Moeen among England supporters, so after a very difficult winter in which he was rightly dropped from the Test team it is good to see him return to form with RCB. He was carrying drinks for the first month of the competition but has taken his chance to impress later on and helped RCB to stay in the hunt for 4th place. His bowling his been tight and batting a little erratic, not helped by the fact he has been moved around the order. That being said he did make a typically swash buckling 65 from just 34 balls this week. There is no doubt that he is a confidence player and that that innings will do him a world of good. It’ll be a great game this afternoon as he goes head to head with England colleagues Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in a must win match for both teams.

J.Buttler

Has had another magnificent week. He equaled Virender Sehwag’s record of 5 consecutive fifties and was very unlucky not to break it falling just short against KKR with 39. I wrote in my last team of the week that I felt Buttler had the skills to be a Test Match player but had recently been seen as a white ball specialist. Once again, I’ve proved that this is the most influential cricketing blog in the world. No really it is! Ok so maybe there’s only 5 people reading it but those people obviously include new, England Chairman of Selectors Ed Smith who has included Buttler as a specialist batsmen in the side that will play Pakistan next week.

A.Tye

He can’t stop taking wickets at the moment, 4 against KKR was followed by 4 more against Mumbai. His teammate KL Rahul is the highest run scorer and he is the highest wicket taker – in fact he is now miles out in front with 24 wickets, 6 wickets ahead of the chasing pack. It’s obvious that there are a few too many weak links in the Kings XI chain but they are not out yet! Tye himself claims to have dozens of different deliveries with which to bamboozle the bastman. Personally I’ve never bought into it all that much. Shane Warne was very similar, every Ashes series he’d announce a new delivery – the flipper, the slider, the zooter, etc. These were all different names for the one that didn’t turn! And yet it does the trick! Get into the batsman’s mind, have him deliberate on the 2 dozen slower balls you’ve named, make him think you know something he doesn’t and invariable he’ll end up giving his wicket away – success in cricket is at least 90% what goes on between your ears!

J. Bumrah

Another strong week for one of Indian’s premier pace bowlers. He’ll be facing some of Indian’s best young talent when he goes up against Delhi. If he comes out on top against the likes of Shaw, Pant and Iyer then his side will be playing in the knockout stages and with him in the team they will stand a good chance of defending their title.

I.Sodhi

Was very close to being picked last week after an impressive couple of games. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, wrist spinners are a key asset to any attack in T20 – I like them so much I’ve decided to pick 3 in this week’s team! Let’s see how he performs under pressure in this week’s game against super star batsmen Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers

K.Yadav

Like a couple of the KKR players he’s been a little bit hit and miss this season but his 4 wickets against Rajasthan was very much a hit. That performance has led his side to the brink of qualification for the play-offs. It’d be great to face a player like him in the nets – I don’t think I’ve ever played against a left-arm Chinaman bowler. It would likely not end well for me.

That’s it for this week BUT

look out for some competitions and free SBD giveaways that will be announced on Sunday, once we know the outcome of these final group games and the line ups for the Semi’s

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