Toss :

Delhi won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Axar Patel - With 30 runs and 3 wickets against Mumbai in the last 3 matches, Axar Patel can be an interesting pick given that the pitches have slowed down and he has a good record against the likes of Rohit, Surya and Pollard in the past few seasons.

Kieron Pollard - He is the player who has the best average with 86 and best SR with 193 this season among all players. A look at his scores in play-off matches (2013 onwards): 41*, 7, 9*, 7, 36, 41, 60*, 11 and 24; thus, has been blowing hot and cold but given his form this season, he can be a match winner.

Krunal Pandya - It's no secret that Delhi is his favorite opposition as he has the best bowling as well as batting average against Delhi in the IPL. As context, he also has more than a decent record in play-off matches with 114 runs and 2 wickets in 5 matches.

Jasprit Bumrah - He was rested in the last match, but has taken 23 wickets (2nd most) this season and will be itching to have a go. In his last 2 matches at Dubai he has taken 3-wicket hauls each (3/17 and 3/24); one of which was indeed against Delhi.

Kagiso Rabada - The purple cap holder of this season (25 wickets) had somewhat lost his rhythm but came back strongly with a performance of 2/30 in the last match.

Trent Boult  - With 8 wickets in his recent 4 matches and 20 wickets overall this season (joint 3rd highest), Boult is in good touch. Interestingly, 12 out of his 20 wickets have come inside the powerplay, thus can be crucial against struggling Delhi top-order.

Ishan Kishan - He has scored 100 runs at SR of 161 against Delhi this season in 2 matches. At Dubai he has scored 178 runs at SR of 159 in just 3 matches. This makes him an interesting pick as he is up against Delhi at Dubai.

Quinton de Kock - He is the 7th highest run getter this season (443 runs) and the keeper with the most dismissals (18). A look at his performances against Delhi this season: 26 runs (alongwith 3 dismissals) at Dubai and 53 runs at Abu Dhabi.

Shikhar Dhawan - He is 3rd in the list of most runs this season with 525 runs. After scoring 2 consecutive 100s, he had 3 consecutive single digit scores; but came back strongly in the recent match against Bengaluru with a cautious 54 runs.

Probable XI

Mumbai : Quinton de Kock(wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.

Delhi : Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishab Pant(wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tushar Deshpande

Preview

Into the playoffs are we - of the 2020 Indian T20 League. The first match is Qualifier 1, which sees the top two teams battle it out to be in the final - Mumbai and Delhi. The loser though is not eliminated but gets another chance to reach the final, via a longer route.

Mumbai have been way above the rest while Delhi have been in the leagues of other teams. So, does this sound like a one-sided contest already?

Mumbai were beaten badly in their last match by Hyderabad but they were without Hardik, Bumrah and Boult - three match-winners. Add to it, Rohit Sharma's return is a massive boost.

With the opposition at full strength, Delhi will have to rediscover their mojo. Their bowling came back to form in their last game against Bangalore but the batting is still having issues. They need to be at their best to reach the final in one shot.