Royal Challengers Bengaluru are set to clash with Chennai Super Kings in probably their biggest game of the IPL 2024 season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. With one playoffs spot up for grabs, RCB need nothing less than a resounding win to guarantee themselves a place in the top four. After losing seven of their first eight games, RCB have been on upward trajectory of late, winning five games on the bounce heading into the do-or-die fixture with CSK. They currently trail CSK by 2 points while their Net Run Rate is also slightly inferior.

However, rain threat looms over the crucial clash in Bengaluru with the local authorities issuing a ‘Yellow Alert’ in the city due to the bad weather conditions.

Bengaluru witnessed very little rain on Thursday and mostly cloudy weather on Friday. However, fans are unlikely to witness a full 20-overs-a-side contest on Saturday.

According to Accuweather, chances of rain are 87 percentage with a few thunderstorms in the evening. While there was no rain early in the morning, the weather is likely to get worse with passing time.

“Cloudy; a thunderstorm in parts of the area this evening followed by a shower late,” the forecast suggested. Temperature is likely to hover between 22-30 degree celsius.

In case of a washout, both the teams will be awarded one point each, taking CSK and RCB to 15 and 13 points respectively.

In that case, the defending champions will qualify for the playoffs.

CSK are currently fourth on the points table with 14 points from 13 matches while Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at seventh with 12 points from as many games. CSK also have a better net run rate of 0.528 than RCB’s 0.387.

To replace CSK in the top four race, RCB need to win the match by at least 18 runs if they score a minimum of 200 runs batting first or win in 18.1 overs if they are chasing 200.

The last time CSK and RCB met in the inaugural match of the IPL 2024, the Super Kings clinched a six-wicket win over Faf du Plessis‘ side.