India, May 18 -- RCB have already crossed the playoff line, but their league story is not finished yet. The next turn of the table now runs through the CSK vs SRH match, a fixture that can either close the playoff race for GT and SRH or lift Bengaluru directly into Qualifier 1 without them needing to play another ball.

For SRH, the match is a direct entry route, while for CSK, it is a survival game. For GT and RCB, it is a rare fixture where another team's result can settle their own future. An SRH win would push Hyderabad to 16 and make it impossible for enough teams below to drag both them and Gujarat out of the top four. A CSK win would stop SRH short of RCB's 18-point range, leaving only GT capable of catching Bengaluru and therefore...