Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Points Table, Group-wise knockout qualification scenarios ahead of last round

Group A: Rajasthan, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh fill up the top three spots of Group A, all sitting with 20 points to their name. Punjab rank fourth with 16 points. Rajasthan will take on Bengal in their last round on Thursday, so only one of the two will be moving on to the knockouts unless Madhya Pradesh and Punjab spring a late surprise.

Group A matches to watch out for in Round 6, December 5: Punjab (16 points) vs Meghalaya, Bengal (20) v Rajasthan (20), Bihar vs Madhya Pradesh (20).

Group B: Group B sees a similar scenario with a three-way race between Saurashtra, Gujarat and Baroda at the top with 20 points. Here, all teams will be playing against teams that have already been knocked out. If all three teams win, the top two will be decided based on their Net Run Rate.

Group B matches to watch out for in Round 6: Saurashtra (20) v Tripura, Gujarat (20) v Karnataka, Baroda (20) v Sikkim.

Group C: Four teams in Jharkhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are in the race from Group C. While Jharkhand and Delhi stand with 20 points, the other two are on 16 points before Thursday. UP can make things interesting if they beat Jharkhand in their final group game and jump up to 20.

Group C matches to watch out for in Round 6: Arunachal Pradesh v Delhi (20), Jharkhand (20) v Uttar Pradesh (16), Haryana v J&K (16).

Group D: Vidarbha have set their mark in Group D and have virtually qualified for the knockouts, being far ahead of everyone with 18 points beside their name. The battle goes on between Assam and Chandigarh, who have 12 points each with one match to go in the group stage. Should both teams win their respective ties, Assam will qualify on the account of having won their head-to-head match against Chandigarh. If both teams lose on Thursday, the winner of the Railways-Pondicherry match will also be in contention to qualify.

Group D matches to watch out for in Round 6: Assam (12) v Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh (12) v Odisha, Railways (10) v Pondicherry (8).

Group E: With Andhra sealing qualification for the knockouts, the spotlight falls on Kerala and Mumbai for the second spot, tied at 16 points ahead of the last round. Kerala currently sit at number but are done with all of their group matches. The stacked Mumbai side will meet Andhra on Thursday and will qualify for the knockouts as the top side from the group if they win. Kerala will qualify for the knockouts should Andhra continue their winning run, as they won their group-stage match tie against Mumbai last week.

Group E matches to watch out for in Round 6: Andhra (20) v Mumbai (16)

Here is a quick look at the points table of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024: