At the end of the first half of the league stage, two teams were certain to reach the playoffs - defending champions Mumbai Indians and a balanced Delhi Capitals side. Both donned a daunting batting lineup and had an equally threatening bowling attack that helped them secure the top two places at the end of their first seven games. But while Mumbai Indians have already made it to the knockouts, Delhi seemed to have run out of steam, having lost three in a row.

By virtue of Chennai Super Kings' ravishing win against Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai qualified for the playoff, with their main concern now on the top two spots. They presently sit at top of the table with 16 points from with an excellent net run rate (NRR). But in a bid to consolidate their position, they need to defeat Delhi, which would in turn hurt their chances of reaching the next round of IPL 2020.
After the first half, they struggled to win against CSK before losing to Kings XI Punjab, KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad, which have pushed them down to the third spot with 14 points from 12 games

Delhi will hence be looking at the Mumbai game and their last match - against RCB- as a must-win tie. If they lose both, a red-hot Kings XI might go past them in the table on the basis of a stronger NRR even if they finish with 14 points in the league stage.