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Eden Gardens Rain Delay Creates Big Twist in IPL 2026 Playoff Race

Cricket Gully | May 21, 2026 1:39 AM CST

Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians faced a major interruption during their important IPL 2026 clash at Eden Gardens on Wednesday evening as heavy rain suddenly arrived during the first innings.

The rain became stronger within seconds, forcing players and umpires to rush back to the dugout. Ground staff quickly entered the field and covered the entire ground in a short time to protect the pitch and outfield. The sudden rain break disappointed fans because the match had already produced plenty of action during the powerplay overs.

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Mumbai Indians were struggling before the rain break

Before the rain interruption, KKR looked properly in control, having put Mumbai Indians under pressure right from the start. Cameron Green basically gave KKR the best kind of start, dismissing Ryan Rickelton pretty cheap. After that Green went again and this time Naman Dhir was sent back for a duck.

Rohit Sharma, who has batted many times at Eden Gardens in the past , couldn’t really make it count this time. He got out after making just 15 runs. And then there was young pacer Saurabh Dubey too, left arm angle doing damage. He removed Suryakumar Yadav, after the batter had begun quickly.

When the rain finally stopped play, Mumbai Indians were sitting at 57/4 after eight overs. Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya were staying there in the middle, trying to rebuild what the innings had lost.

Also Read | Watch: Manish Pandey And Cameron Green Take Brilliant Catches To Dismiss MI Openers in MI vs KKR Clash

Eden Gardens drainage system gives hope

Even if the rain felt heavy for a while, good news came not long after. The rain eased off around 8:41 PM IST, and that gave everyone a reason to believe the match could restart sooner rather than later.

Eden Gardens is basically famous for having one of the better drainage setups in India. There is an advanced subsurface drainage system, and it helps pull water away pretty quickly after rain stops.

So, because of that setup, ground staff were expected to get the surface ready fast, assuming there wasn’t another burst of rain later in the night.

Washout could change the playoff race mood

The rain delay also adds a lot of pressure to the IPL 2026 playoff race. Three teams—Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad—have already locked in their playoff places. Still, the remaining spot or spots are not decided, it is an open fight between multiple sides.

If the KKRvs MI game gets washed out, Kolkata Knight Riders can only reach a max of 14 points even if they beat Delhi Capitals in their last league match. Meanwhile, Punjab Kings can rise to 15 points if they beat Lucknow Super Giants.

Chennai Super Kings can also end up on 14 points with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals are still in the race with 12 points. So yeah, it looks like the final playoff battle could end up going right down to the last league matches.