Unlike the five teams below it on the points table, Kings is in contention for a place in the playoffs. But like the four teams placed ahead, it is not sure of making the playoffs solely on the strength of a victory or victories in the remaining matches.
Permutations
For Kings to secure a place in the top-four teams, it not only has to win against an already-qualified Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday and Deccan Chargers on May 21 but also wish that fourth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders loses to Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians.
Currently, Kings has 12 points, two points behind KKR that enjoys a far superior net run-rate.
At best, Kings can reach 16 points. In case of a tie at 16 points, Kings' low net-run rate will come in the way of securing a place in the playoffs. For the moment, Adam Gilchrist and his men can do only what they can — try and win.
RCB, obviously keen for a top-two finish in the league, will not be taking Kings lightly although it had posted a crushing 85-run win in their previous meeting.
The arrival of Chris Gayle has dramatically changed the fortunes of RCB.
Upfront, Gayle's savage attack on the new-ball bowlers has settled many contests much before the last ball was bowled. Even before Gayle arrived on the scene, RCB was already among the more balanced teams in the fray.
And even after skipper Daniel Vettori and Tillakratne Dilshan are not available for different reasons, the team has plenty in the reserve to go all the way.
Vettori has gone home to attend to a knee injury and Dilshan joins Sri Lanka for the tour to England.
On the other hand, Kings has taken time to make its presence felt in the competition.
The batting line-up now has a settled look with Gilchrist, Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh and Dinesh Karthik giving the opposition something to think about.
David Hussey is yet to play to his potential while Mandeep Singh is looking increasingly confident.
The bowlers, including Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris, Shalabh Srivastava, Bhargav Bhatt, Piyush Chawla lacks the power to intimidate the batsmen.
But they have done reasonable well so far.
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