The group encounters of the Champions League T20 are coming to an end and the knockout phase of the tournament is to start. Three teams – Kolkata Knight Riders, Hobart Hurricanes and Kings XI Punjab – have already qualified for the semis, while the Chennai Super Kings and the Lahore Lions are in contention of sealing the last semifinal spot.
Chennai have played all their four group matches and are currently second in Group A with 10 points but it is not enough for the qualification. The Lions are also in contention with six points and have one game in hand. If the team from Pakistan managed to win against the Perth Scorchers they will be tied at 10 points with the Super Kings.
The qualification, if the Lions win against the Scorchers, will come down to the net run rate, which is always a tedious job for the teams to calculate. Chennai currently has +0.945 net run rate, while the Lions have a run rate of +0.255, which will change in their last group game of the tournament.
However, if the Pakistan national T20 champions couldn’t get the better of the Scorchers, the Super Kings will join the Knight Riders, Hurricanes and Kings XI in the last-four stage. The Lions cannot be ruled out in the last game and they are more than capable of troubling the Scorchers, seeing the superiors bowling attack they have.
The equation for Lahore Lions to qualify is as follows:
If Lahore Lions bat first and score
100 – They will need to restrict Perth Scorchers to 46
150 – They will need to restrict Perth Scorchers to 103
200 – They will need to restrict Perth Scorchers to 153
If Perth Scorchers bat first and score
100 – Lahore Lions will need to chase down the target in 14 overs**
150 – Lahore Lions will need to chase down the target in 14.3 overs**
200 – Lahore Lions will need to chase down the target in 15 overs**
** This calculation is based on assumption that Lahore Lions will score one run more than Scorchers. If the winning shot is a boundary with scores level, Lahore Lions can take 2-3 balls more.
Had Lahore Lions won by a bigger margin of 65+ runs their NRR would have been around 1.62 as against CSK’s current 1.08 #DOLvLIO #CLT20
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) September 27, 2014
