Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians Sent Crashing Out of IPL 2026
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Go Top After Thriller Against MI
The race for the coveted Playoff spots in the 2026 Indian Premier League is at its boiling point, with just five points separating the first eight teams in the standings, all of which are still in contention to finish in the top four with only 19 games left to play.
However, the one storyline that is likely to dominate headlines over the coming days will be the early exit of the Mumbai Indians, who are now mathematically unable to qualify for the Playoffs after suffering a two-wicket defeat to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which confirmed our IPL predictions.
Batting first, the five-time champions posted a defendable total of 166/7 on a bowler-friendly pitch at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, with Tilak Varma leading the charge, scoring 57 runs of 42 deliveries.
Unfortunately for the Mumbai franchise, a stellar spell from RCB veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/23) at an economy rate of just 5.75, combined with a stunning 73 runs off 46 balls by Krunal Pandya, spearheaded the reigning champions to victory on the very final ball of the match.
Meanwhile, over at the MA Chidambaram Stadium earlier in the day, the Lucknow Super Giants became the first team to be eliminated from Playoff qualification contention after losing to the Chennai Super Kings by five wickets and with four balls to spare.
Despite impressive performances by Josh Inglis (85 off 33) and Shahbaz Ahmed (43* off 25), which got the team to 203/8 in their 20 overs, a relatively blunt bowling performance ultimately cost LSG, as CSK remained in control throughout and chased down the target with almost an over in the bank.
Those results left MI and LSG in ninth and 10th place, respectively, after 11 matches. They now trail the fourth-placed Punjab Kings by seven points with three games left to play, meaning they cannot break into the Playoffs, even if they win all their remaining matches in the competition.
Indian Premier League 2026: Standings After 54 Matches
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 1.103 | |
| 2 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 0.737 | |
| 3 | Gujarat Titans | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 0.228 | |
| 4 | Punjab Kings | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 0.571 | |
| 5 | Chennai Super Kings | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0.185 | |
| 6 | Rajasthan Royals | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0.082 | |
| 7 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 9 | −0.169 | |
| 8 | Delhi Capitals | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 8 | −1.154 | |
| 9 | Mumbai Indians (E) | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 6 | −0.585 | Eliminated |
| 10 | Lucknow Super Giants (E) | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 6 | −0.907 | Eliminated |
