Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) square off against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 44 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

RCB, having won 7 games out of 10, currently occupy one spot in the top three in the points table. The Virat Kohli-led unit are coming into this game on the back of their convincing eight-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

On the other hand, CSK have three wins to their name and are on the eighth position in the standings. This will be CSK's first game since their ten-wicket defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians (MI).

It is remarkable how the Royal Challengers have improved their net run-rate. At one moment, after their first loss against KXIP, Royal Challengers Bangalore's campaign appeared to be a sinking ship, but the way they have turned it around is commendable.

While it is the batting that the Challengers from Bangalore are known for, it was actually their bowling that won them against the Knight Riders. Mohammad Siraj was brilliant with the new ball and single-handedly dismantled KKR's top order. He got ample support from Chris Morris, Navdeep Saini, and Isuru Udana, who all did pretty well on the day. Apart from the speedsters, it is the spinners that have worked wonders for RCB. While Yuzvendra Chahal is already a known force with the ball, the management will be pretty impressed by how Washington Sundar has done. Also, credit to Virat Kohli who has used him perfectly as far as tactics are concerned.

On paper and going by the performance in the tournament so far, RCB have a terrific team. The form of Aaron Finch could be a concern, but they might not want to tinker with their winning combination so late in the tournament. They are an immaculately balanced team and with the momentum they have gathered over the last few matches, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore is going to take some effort.

Chennai Super Kings are set to miss the playoffs for the first time in the 12-year history of the Indian Premier League. Nothing seemed to be working for CSK before their clash against Mumbai Indians and it didn't change even an inch after the clash. If anything, it only went downhill.

In the tournament, there isn't much that has gone the Super Kings way after they announced themselves with a terrific win over Mumbai Indians. They have struggled to get their combination right and a few injuries in between didn't help them either. They are at the point of no return at the moment and we might see their youngsters getting an opportunity, not just in the upcoming match, but also in the other matches to follow.

It's not only the losses that would have shaken the Chennai Super Kings' camp, it is also the manner in which they came. Their most recent defeat, against Mumbai Indians, perfectly summed up the tournament for them as barring Sam Curran's fighting knock, nothing seemed to work. In the tournament gone by, only Curran and Faf du Plessis have somewhat managed to drag Super Kings. A lot will be expected from them in the upcoming match as well, but for CSK to do well, the youngsters will have to join the party. Now that the chances to qualify are over, we expect them to come out and express themselves on the field.

Weather Conditions
It is going to be another hot in Dubai with temperature will be hovering around 30-34 degrees for this afternoon match. Humidity will be around 34% and there's no chance of precipitation. A wind-speed of around 20-24km/h is expected.

Pitch Report
Dubai has seen the past few matches being won by the team batting second. Bowlers are increasingly making more impact across the venues and Dubai is no exception. There's something for fast bowlers with some swing on offer at the start of then innings. Spinners are calling the shots now. The team batting first would want to put a total of at least 170 runs on the board.

Toss Prediction
Since this is a day game, dew will not have any impact whatsoever in this game. We believe the surface will tend to get a bit slower in the second innings and hitting big shots will be difficult. The captain winning the toss will want to bat first.

Head-to-Head and Stats:
Head to head: Matches Played: 26
Chennai Super Kings: 16
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 9
No Result: 1

Approaching Milestones
Virat Kohli needs 1 six to complete 200 IPL sixes.
aron Finch needs 42 runs to complete 2000 IPL runs.
MS Dhoni needs 6 catches to complete 100 IPL catches for CSK.
Ambati Rayudu needs 2 fours to complete 300 IPL fours.

Likely XIs:
Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson/ Ruturaj Gaikwad, N Jagadeesan/ Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma/KM Asif, Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers (wk), Shivam Dube/ Gurkeerat Mann, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini/Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal

Players to Watch Out For:
Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli , AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Yuzvendra Chahal

Match Odds:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1.66 Chennai Super Kings: 2.20

SantaBanta's Winner Prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore

IPL 2020 Winner Live Odds:
Mumbai Indians - 2.75
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 3.75
Delhi Capitals - 4.5
Kings XI Punjab - 8.5

Kolkata Knight Riders -9
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 341
Chennai Super Kings - 67
Rajasthan Royals - 201
Match Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time: 3.30 PM IST
TV: Star Sports Network.
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar VIP