Every April, casual fans start asking the same question: why is a team with the same number of wins ranked above another? The answer almost always comes down to Net Run Rate, and understanding it makes following the IPL far more rewarding.
## The Basics: Points First
Ten teams play a double round-robin — every side faces every other team twice, home and away — for a total of 14 league games each. A win earns two points, a loss earns zero, and a no-result or tie typically splits one point each (unless a Super Over decides it). After 14 rounds, the top four teams advance to the playoffs.
## Why Net Run Rate Decides So Much
When two or more teams finish level on points, Net Run Rate (NRR) becomes the tiebreaker. NRR is calculated by subtracting a team’s average runs conceded per over across the season from its average runs scored per over. A team that wins games by big margins, or restricts opponents cheaply, builds a healthier NRR than one that scrapes narrow wins.
This is why, late in the season, you will see chasing sides try to finish overs quickly rather than take a game deep — every extra ball used when chasing down a target hurts NRR, even in a winning cause.
## How the Playoffs Work
– **Qualifier 1:** 1st place vs 2nd place — winner goes straight to the final
– **Eliminator:** 3rd place vs 4th place — loser is out
– **Qualifier 2:** Loser of Qualifier 1 vs winner of the Eliminator — winner reaches the final
This format gives the top two teams a cushion: lose Qualifier 1, and you still get a second chance in Qualifier 2, while finishing third or fourth means one bad day ends your campaign.
## Seeing It in Action
The system played out clearly during the [2026 IPL season](/ipl-2026-match-schedule-and-fixtures), where Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s nine wins from 14 games were enough for a top-two finish and a direct route to the final, which they went on to win. Meanwhile, teams tracking the [Orange Cap](/ipl-orange-cap-race-updates) and [Purple Cap](/ipl-purple-cap-race-updates) races often find individual form and team NRR move together, since big individual scores tend to produce the lopsided wins that boost a side’s run rate.
Once you can read the points table properly, the last two weeks of any IPL season become a genuinely different viewing experience.