Kings XI Punjab hold the advantage if their first qualifier against Kolkata Knight Riders is washed out on the reserve day today.

The match, scheduled to take place yesterday, spilled over to the reserve day following heavy rain in Kolkata that left the Eden Gardens ground waterlogged. 

Umpires Nigel Llong and S Ravi called off play at 15:45 (UAE time) yesterday after an early inspection.

They felt the ground would not be match-fit in time, even for the minimum five-overs that can constitute a game.

According to IPL playing conditions, if no play is possible today then Punjab will progress to this Sunday's final, as they finished higher than Kolkata in the league.

In such a scenario, Kolkata will meet the winner of tonight’s Eliminator between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the second Qualifier on Friday.

The timings have been changed for the first Qualifier today and it will now be a day match with play scheduled to begin at 16:00 local time (14:30 UAE).

IPL CEO Sundar Raman revealed that play can start as late as 20:20 (18:50 UAE) for a result but it would be a five-over affair if it were to start that late. 

Raman tweeted: “Play to start at 4pm and match can start till 6pm with out any reduction in overs. Play can start as late as 8:20pm with 5 over a side.”

The possibility of any action today, however, is in the balance with thunderstorms and more rain expected at some stage during the day.