NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad secured a spot in the Indian Premier League playoffs as rain forced the abandonment of their IPL match against Gujarat Titans, with no balls bowled on Thursday.
By achieving this feat, SRH becomes the third team to qualify, joining Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, who currently hold the top two spots in the standings.
Despite the washout, Sunrisers earned a point, bringing their total to 15 points with one match remaining.
They will face Punjab Kings, who have already been eliminated, in their final league encounter on May 19.
GT, the last year's runners-up and 2022 champions, were knocked out of the play-off race after their previous match was also abandoned due to rain. They thus end the season with 12 points from 14 matches.
The toss didn't happen at scheduled time of 7 pm due to rain and wet outfield. The rain intensified before settling into a steady shower as the covers and outfield stayed covered.
The cut-off time for a five-over game was 10:56 PM, which meant the drizzle needed to stop for mop-up to begin by around 10:15pm but with rain showing no signs of abating, the official decided to abandon the match.
It is the second game to be called off in this IPL, because of rain and wet outfield.
Four teams -- Chennai Super Kings (14), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (12), Delhi Capitals (14) and Lucknow Super Giants (12) -- are still in fray for the battle for the last spot.
If LSG win against Mumbai Indians on Friday, they will move to 14 points to stay mathematically alive but CSK will seal the spot if they beat RCB or the game is washed out on Saturday.
If RCB beat CSK by at least 18 runs or 11 balls to spare then they will grab the fourth available spot on the basis of net run-rate as they would be on 14 points, same as DC, CSK and LSG (if they win).
(With inputs from PTI)
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