The 2025 WPL has only three matches left until the knockout phase, with four sides still in contention. Here's what each team needs to finish the league stage in the qualification places.
The third edition of the Women's Premier League has arguably been its best yet, with four out of the five teams still in contention to reach the knockout stage of the tournament. With an exciting few matches of action ahead as the tournament builds to a crescendo, here's what each side needs to reach the knockout stage.
WPL 2025: What do Delhi Capitals need to reach the knockout stage?
Delhi have been the standout team in this year's tournament, having won five out of their eight games so far. They have also already concluded their group stage matches and cannot influence their table position any further. With 10 points on the board, Delhi have already qualified for the knockout stage, but which position they finish in, and thus which matches they play in the knockout stage, is still to be determined.
To go straight through to the final, they must finish in first place and stay ahead of both MI and Gujarat, who are the only teams who could knock them off the top spot. Gujarat are currently in second on eight points with one game remaining. If they win that game, they will likely go ahead of Delhi as their NRR are very similar and a win would likely be enough, unless the result is very close, to take them to the top spot. MI are in third on eight points with two games remaining. If they win both of those, they will finish with 12 points ahead of Delhi. If they win one of those games, their NRR is also within reach of Delhi, so they would need to lose one game narrowly and win the other well to finish in first place.
There's also a scenario where both MI and Gujarat go ahead of Delhi, if MI lose to Gujarat by a big enough margin to put Gujarat's NRR ahead of Delhi's but beat RCB well enough to also boost their NRR ahead of Delhi's. In that scenario, Delhi would have to go through the Eliminator.
62 runs, 23 balls, two fours and eight sixes! 💥
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 22, 2025
Batting at No.8, Chinelle Henry has just smashed the joint-fastest half-century in WPL history 🔥
Lauren Winfield-Hill was impressed by her WPL debut earlier in the week 👏
🤝 @Metro_Bank #WPL2025 pic.twitter.com/pkhMBtRQgU
WPL 2025: What do Gujarat Giants need to reach the knockout stage?
Gujarat would have to be overtaken by both MI and RCB to slip out of the qualification spots. If they lose their last remaining match against MI, MI will overtake them in the standings on points. If RCB win both of their remaining matches against UP Warriorz and MI, then they will finish joint on points with Gujarat - in the scenario that Gujarat lose to MI. If that happens, RCB will have to win big against both UP and MI to overtake Gujarat's NRR.
If Gujarat beat MI, they will qualify regardless of other results, as RCB will not be able to match them on 10 points.
WPL 2025: What do Mumbai Indians need to reach the knockout stage?
Mumbai Indians are in a strong position with two games in hand and on eight points. If they win both of their remaining games, they will finish at the top of the table regardless of other results on 10 points. If they win one of their games, they will also automatically go through as only two other teams can finish on 10 points.
If they lose both of their games, they could slip out of qualification. A loss to Gujarat in their next match would mean that Gujarat go to 10 points with MI still on eight. If MI then also lose the final game of the group stage to RCB, and RCB win today (March 8) against UP, both RCB and MI will finish on eight points. In that scenario, RCB would need to win both of their remaining games by decent enough margins to overtake MI on NRR. RCB's NRR is currently -0.244, while MI's is 0.267.
WPL 2025: What do RCB need to reach the knockout stage?
RCB are the only team currently not in the qualification spots who could still qualify. They are currently on four points with two games in hand. The next team above them is MI on eight points. Given that the highest number of points RCB could reach from their remaining games is eight, they must win both of them in order to qualify. It will also not be enough just to win them, they will need to win them by big enough margins to boost their NRR above other teams who finish on eight points, which will be either Gujarat or MI if RCB win their next two matches. Both currently sit on superior NRR's to RCB.
WPL 2025: What do UP Warriorz need to reach the knockout stage?
UP Warriorz are already out of contention to reach the knockout stage. They are in last place in the table having lost five of their seven games with one to play. They could still have a significant part to play in qualification, however. If they cause an upset by beating RCB, they will effectively knock them out of the tournament.
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