In a must-win game, Rajasthan Royals have to produce something special to beat the mighty Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur on Friday.
With just four wins from 10 matches, Rajasthan are in sixth position on the table and need to win their remaining four games to secure a play-off spot.
They can take some confidence from their 15-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in their last game. It ended a run of three successive defeats for Ajinkya Rahane-led side.
But, their next challenge is against the tournament heavyweight Chennai. led by their talismanic skipper, CSK are second in the table with 14 points. One win from the remaining four games might be enough to seal a play-off spot for them.
Barring explosive English wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, others have failed to live up to their billing. Below-par performances from all-rounder Ben Stokes and Rahul Tripathi have hurt Royals badly. Their captain Rahane has neither been impressive. D'Arcy Short has neither fulfilled his potential.
With 332 runs, Samson is the top-scorer for the team, while Buttler has 320 runs to his name.
In their last match, Buttler's 58-ball 82 took the hosts to a decent 158 for eight, which their bowlers defended due to impressive performances from Krishnappa Gowtham, Kiwi spinner Ish Sodhi and Jofra Archer.
The likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Shreyas Gopal need to do more. Archer has been a revelation for them so far, grabbing nine wickets from five matches.
If they are to have any chance of putting together a winning streak, then the team has to step up in both batting and bowling, and should perform in unison.
Chennai, on the other hand, have returned to the tournament - after serving a two-year suspension - in some style.
They have been formidable as usual and have that air of invincibility around them, making them an instant favourite for the coveted title.
Their batsmen have been in stupendous form, firing on all cylinders.
The likes of Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, skipper Dhoni and Suresh Raina all have contributed when the team needed them.
Rayudu, in particular, has been sensational both as an opener and at number four. As of now, he is at the third position in the run-scorers chart with 423 runs from 10 games.
Dhoni is seventh on the chart with 360 runs, which included three half-centuries. With his great performances in the bat, he has silenced his critics and shown his hard-hitting ability again.
Watson has defied his age to give Chennai good starts at the top of the table regularly this season. He has 328 runs, including a splendid 106 to his name.
However, bowling has been a worry for them in this campaign. Their bowlers have been regularly taken to the cleaners by the opposition batsmen.
Their pacers lungi Ngidi, David Willey and Shardul Thakur need to do more after Deepak Chahar got injured and England's Mark Wood cut short his IPl stint earlier than expected.
Their spinners Ravindra Jadeja and veteran Harbhajan Singh came good in the last match as they restricted RCB to 127/9.
Dhoni will hope that outing will give his bowlers the required confidence in the coming games to perform at the top level.