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ILT20 Playoff Race

Four of the six ILT20 teams reach the playoffs. A win is worth 2 points, a tie or no-result 1 point, and a loss 0. When teams finish level on points, net run rate separates them.

How qualification works

Each team plays 10 league games. The top four on the points table go through: 1st and 2nd into Qualifier 1, 3rd and 4th into the Eliminator. The Qualifier 1 winner goes straight to the final; the Eliminator winner meets the Qualifier 1 loser in Qualifier 2 for the second final place.

What net run rate means

Net run rate is a team's runs per over scored minus its runs per over conceded, across its league games. A big win lifts it more than a narrow win, and a heavy defeat hurts it more than a close one. That is why a team chasing a playoff place can gain from winning by a wide margin, not just from winning.

What it took last season

Season 4 is the honest benchmark for Season 5, because the format is the same. In Season 4, 8 points took fourth place and 10 points took third. The full Season 4 table:

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Points
Desert Vipers	10	8	2	16
MI Emirates	10	7	3	14
Dubai Capitals	10	5	5	10
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders	10	4	6	8
Gulf Giants	10	3	7	6
Sharjah Warriorz	10	3	7	6

Those numbers are a guide, not a promise: a different spread of results changes the cut-off every season.

Belts leaderboard (Season 4 final)

Season 5 has no Belt points yet, because no Season 5 game has been played. The latest completed leaderboard is Season 4: Sam Curran of Desert Vipers led both the Green Belt for best batter (475 points, 397 runs) and the Red Belt for most valuable player (691 points, 397 runs, 7 wickets, 10 catches). Green runners-up were Muhammad Waseem of MI Emirates (435 points, 370 runs) and Max Holden of Desert Vipers (419 points, 359 runs). Red runners-up were Azmatullah Omarzai of Gulf Giants (499 points) and Tom Banton of MI Emirates (470 points). Each belt carried a USD 15,000 prize.

Playoff dates, Season 5

Qualifier 1: 16 December 2026, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Eliminator: 17 December 2026, Dubai International Stadium. Qualifier 2: 18 December 2026, Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Final: 20 December 2026, Dubai International Stadium. All four start at 6:30 pm GST. See the full schedule.

The four playoff games, in order

Qualifier 1 is 1st against 2nd. The winner goes straight to the final. The loser is not out. That side gets a second chance in Qualifier 2. The Eliminator is 3rd against 4th. The loser there is out at once. The winner meets the Qualifier 1 loser in Qualifier 2. The winner of Qualifier 2 takes the second final place. So the top two can lose once and still reach the final. The sides in 3rd and 4th must win twice in a row to get there. That is the whole edge of finishing in the top two. It is also why the last league games matter even when a side has already qualified. First place and second place both carry the second chance, but first place also picks the Qualifier 1 tie it wants less to lose. The format is set out in full on the rules and format page.

Net run rate, worked through

Take a simple example, not a real match. A side scores 180 runs in 20 overs. That is 9.00 runs per over. It concedes 160 runs in 20 overs. That is 8.00 runs per over. Its net run rate for that game is 9.00 minus 8.00, which is plus 1.00. Across a season the same sum runs over every league game. Runs scored per over, minus runs conceded per over. A big win lifts the number more than a narrow win. A heavy defeat drags it down more than a close loss. That is why a side chasing a playoff place can gain from winning by a wide margin, and why a side defending a low total can still protect its rate by keeping the defeat close. Last season showed the other end of the table. Gulf Giants and Sharjah Warriorz both finished on 6 points, with three wins and seven defeats each. The Giants took fifth place on a net run rate of minus 0.310, ahead of the Warriorz on minus 0.815. Neither side reached the playoffs. The same separator decided nothing else that season, but it settled fifth place outright.

How past playoffs went

In 2023 Gulf Giants lost Qualifier 1 to Desert Vipers by 19 runs, then used the second chance. They beat MI Emirates by 4 wickets in Qualifier 2, then beat Desert Vipers by 7 wickets in the final on 12 February 2023 in Dubai. MI Emirates had reached Qualifier 2 by beating Dubai Capitals by 8 wickets in the Eliminator. In 2024 Dubai Capitals beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 85 runs in Abu Dhabi, MI Emirates beat Gulf Giants by 45 runs in Dubai, and Dubai Capitals beat Gulf Giants by 9 wickets in Sharjah. MI Emirates then beat Dubai Capitals by 45 runs in the final on 17 February 2024 in Dubai. In 2025 Dubai Capitals beat Desert Vipers by 5 wickets in Qualifier 1, Sharjah Warriorz beat MI Emirates by 6 wickets in the Eliminator, and Desert Vipers beat Sharjah Warriorz by 7 wickets in Qualifier 2. Dubai Capitals then beat Desert Vipers by 4 wickets in the final on 9 February 2025 in Dubai, chasing 190 in 19.2 overs. In 2025-26 Desert Vipers beat MI Emirates by 45 runs in Qualifier 1, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders beat Dubai Capitals by 50 runs in the Eliminator, and MI Emirates beat Abu Dhabi Knight Riders by 7 wickets in Qualifier 2. Desert Vipers then beat MI Emirates by 46 runs in the final on 4 January 2026 in Dubai. Two patterns stand out. The Qualifier 1 loser has reached the final in three of the four seasons. And no final has needed a Super Over.

Season 5: what to watch

Season 5 keeps the same shape. Six teams play a double round-robin, 30 league games, ten each. Every pair meets twice. The league stage ends on 14 December 2026. Then comes a rest day, and the playoffs run from 16 December in Abu Dhabi to the final on 20 December in Dubai. The holders are Desert Vipers, who lost the 2023 and 2025 finals before winning in 2025-26. The six sides are listed on the teams page. Final tickets cost AED 30 for adults, AED 10 for children aged 5 to 16, and under-5s enter free. See the tickets page for the full price ladder. As results land, this page will keep its benchmarks, and the live race will be readable on the points table itself.

FAQs

How many ILT20 teams reach the playoffs?

Four of the six teams. 1st and 2nd go into Qualifier 1, 3rd and 4th into the Eliminator.

What is net run rate in ILT20?

Runs per over scored minus runs per over conceded across league games. It separates teams level on points.

How many points is an ILT20 win worth?

2 points for a win, 1 for a tie or no-result, 0 for a loss.

What did it take to qualify in Season 4?

8 points took fourth place and 10 points took third, in the same six-team, ten-game format.

Who leads the ILT20 Belts?

Season 5 has no Belt points yet. The Season 4 final leaderboard was led by Sam Curran of Desert Vipers on both belts: Green 475 points, Red 691 points.