The final weekend of the IPL 2024 league phase is all set to be a memorable one with just one spot remaining in the play-offs and two teams set to battle for it in what is a virtual knockout.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (15 points) became the third team to qualify for the play-offs, after Kolkata Knight Riders (19 points) and Rajasthan Royals (16 points), as their match against Gujarat Titans on Thursday was washed out.
Saturday’s match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is now a virtual knockout for the last remaining spot in the next stage.
Chennai Super Kings
Matches: 13, Points: 14, NRR: 0.528
Chennai are in a very comfortable position. All they need is one point from the match, in case of a washout, as they will then move to 15 points and qualify for the play-offs.
If Chennai win, then they will move to 16 points and will have a chance of finishing in the top two, provided Rajasthan lose their last match against Kolkata and Sunrisers don’t get more than one point in their final league game against Punjab.
Even if Chennai lose, they can still qualify if the margin of defeat is small. In that case, they will be tied on 14 points with Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals and qualify on net run rate.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Matches: 13, Points: 12, NRR: 0.387
After being down and almost out after the first half of the tournament, Bengaluru have turned things around spectacularly by winning five matches in a row.
Not just that, they have improved their net run rate in the process as well. However, they have one more hurdle to cross; victory against Chennai on Saturday alone will not be enough.
Not only do Bengaluru require a win, they need to beat Chennai by a decent margin to take their net run rate above that of Chennai. If they bat first, Bengaluru need to win by 18 runs or more and if they chase, they need to reach the target with nearly two overs to spare.
In case of a washout, Bengaluru will be out of the race.
Weather forecast in Bengaluru
Two matches have already been abandoned in the IPL because of rain this week and it looks like the weather is likely to have a say on Saturday as well.
Bengaluru is expected to receive rain this weekend. The Indian weather department has forecast spells of rains with chances of thundershowers on Saturday. According to the BBC, there is 70 per cent chance of rain in the evening.
However, the drainage at the Chinnaswamy Stadium is excellent so the chances of the match resuming after heavy rain is high, even for a five-over match.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
CREW
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
CHELSEA SQUAD
Arrizabalaga, Bettinelli, Rudiger, Christensen, Silva, Chalobah, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Kenedy, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Saul, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Hudson-Odoi, Werner, Havertz, Lukaku.
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
