Defending champions and four-time winners Mumbai Indians will square off with Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals in the summit showdown of the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
Mumbai Indians became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of this year's lucrative T20 tournament after they finished at the top of the points table with nine victories from 14 matches.
In the Qualifier 1, Ishan Kishan (55) and Suryakumar Yadav (51) smashed a half-century each before Jasprit Bumrah claimed a four-wicket haul to help Mumbai thrash Delhi Capitals by 57 runs at the Dubai International Stadium and book their place in the final of the tournament.
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, swept aside Sunrisers Hyderabad (the winner of Eliminator between SRH and Royal Challenges Bangalore) by 17 runs in Qualifier 2 on Sunday to storm into their maiden summit showdown of the IPL.Shiikhar Dhawan (78), Shimron Hetmyer (42) and Marcus Stoinis (38) produced decent performance with the bat to help Delhi post good total of 189 for three before Kagiso Rabada picked up four wickets to help his side restrict the David Warner's team to a score of 172 for eight.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals had registed a six-wicket win over Virat Kohli's RCB in their final last league stage clash to qualify for playoffs.The franchise made a second-place finish in standings with eight wins from 14 matches.
Head-to-Head record
As far as head-to-head record between the two sides is concerned, Mumbai Indians hold a slight advantage over Delhi Capitals.
The two sides have faced each other in a total of 27 matches so far. Out of those, Mumbai have emerged victorious on 15 occasions in contrast to Delhi Capitals' 12 wins.
Talking about the last five clashes between the two teams, the Rohit Sharma-led team has clinched victories in four matches, while Delhi has won only one encounter.
In fact, Mumbai Indians have also won the two league stage fixtures against the Delhi Capitals this season.
Mumbai Indians first clinched a five-wicket win over Delhi on October 11 in Abu Dhabi before they continued their dominance over the Iyer-led side with a crushing nine-wicket triumph on October 31 in Dubai.
As far as the two sides' record at this venue is concerned, Delhi Capitals have won five out of 10 matches they played in Dubai.Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have sealed victories in just two out of seven matches they played at this venue.
While the Rohit Sharma-led team will look to add another trophy to their account, Delhi have made it to their maiden final and will be keen to achieve their first IPL glory.
MI has appeared in 17 playoffs games in the history of the cash-rich league and won 11 of them, while Delhi have featured in eight playoffs matches and clinched victory in just two of them.
