Mumbai finished the qualifying stage at the top of the table with 20 points to their credit, from a record of ten wins and just four defeats. After losing their opening fixture to RPS, MI won six successive fixtures, and from there on in, they were always in the box seat for a top two finish.
Both Kieron Pollard and Nitish Rana have scored more than 300 hundred runs for MI, while their leading wicket takers are Mitchell Mcclenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah, with 18 and 15 wickets respectively.
RPS ended qualifying in second place on the table, with nine wins and five defeats. The first half of the season saw them exhibit some indifferent form, but five wins in the last six fixtures, saw them into the top four. Although they could have missed out altogether on a place in the knockout stages, if they had lost their final fixture against the Kings XI. In any event, RPS claimed a 9-wicket victory and second spot on the ladder.
RPS have already beaten MI twice in 2017, winning by seven wickets in Pune back in Match No.2, when Rahane and Steve Smith scored half-centuries as they chased down 184-8. At the Wankhede in Match No.28, RPS posted 160-6, and then restricted the home side to 157 in reply.
Steve Smith has scored 420 runs in the tournament for RPS to lead their run scorers, while their leading wicket taker is Jaydev Unadkat with 21 victims.