Rajasthan Royals ended Kolkata Knight Riders’ playoff path before delhi capitals vs kolkata knight riders could settle it, as KKR were officially knocked out of the IPL after Rajasthan beat the Mumbai Indians earlier today. The result closed off KKR’s route to the 2026 IPL playoffs and left the afternoon’s remaining match with no way to save them.
RR and MI changed KKR’s math
The playoff picture had been built around three scenarios, but Rajasthan’s win erased the one KKR needed most. Kolkata still had to beat the Delhi Capitals to keep their hopes alive, and the match against DC was still part of the day’s final playoff-deciding slate when the Royals finished their job against Mumbai.
That left KKR watching a result they could not control. Fans who had been tracking the table could even find themselves pulling for Mumbai Indian fans in the afternoon’s RR-MI match, because a Mumbai win would have kept the path alive for Kolkata a little longer.
Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings
The remaining playoff picture still carried consequences for the other teams in the mix. If the Delhi Capitals won, neither DC nor KKR would make the playoffs. If DC and MI both won, the Punjab Kings would be the fourth team to make the playoffs.
There was one more layer to the finish. If the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders won, KKR and the Punjab Kings would be tied in points, and net run rate would decide which team took over fourth place. That is the margin KKR lost when Rajasthan beat Mumbai first.
2026 IPL standings
For KKR, the sequence turned a live playoff race into a finished one. The team still had a match against Delhi Capitals on the schedule for the day, but Rajasthan’s result had already settled the more important outcome: Kolkata were out, and the final playoff berth would come down to the remaining results and the point tiebreaker if Punjab Kings were involved.
