MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) missed a golden chance to avoid the wooden spoon in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) after suffering a six-wicket defeat at the hands of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Royals and Super Kings were equal on points coming into the game but the win for the Sanju Samson-led side in their final match of the season has seen them take a two-point lead over the Super Kings. Had CSK won that game, they would have ensured they could not finish 10th, as the Royals have no more matches remaining.

However, the five-time champions still have a chance to close the gap and avoid the humiliation of a wooden spoon finish for the first time in history as they have one match remaining. The MS Dhoni-led side will face table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday (May 25).

As things stand, RR are in 9th place after playing all 14 games with eight points, while CSK are 10th with six points in 13 matches. However, the equation for CSK to avoid a last-place finish is not just about getting the two points in their final game. RR's Net Run Rate (NRR) of -0.549 is significantly higher than CSK (-1.30).

Hence, the Chennai-based outfit faces a daunting challenge in their final game to avoid a 10th-place finish. The Men in Yellow need to beat the Titans by at least a margin of around 107 runs or chase down the total in around 7.4 overs to win that match.

CSK, who are the league's most successful team with five titles and also have played the most finals (10) and reached the playoffs the most times (12) have never finished last in the table. They have finished second-last twice in 2020 (7th place) and 2022 (9th place).