Mumbai Indians clinched the Indian Premier League's final playoff spot with a match to spare as Suryakumar Yadav and Mitchell Santner inspired them to a 59-run win over Delhi Capitals.

Playing their first match since the IPL resumed last week, Mumbai knew a victory would see them join Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings in the top four, while fifth-placed Delhi had to win on Wednesday to retain any hope of overhauling them.

It was initially slow going for the hosts at Wankhede Stadium, but Yadav led a fine display of death-over batting to get them to 180-5, before Delhi's own order collapsed.

Yadav scored just 33 runs from 26 balls up to the end of the 15th over, then stepped on the gas and slammed 40 from his final 16 deliveries faced, finishing unbeaten on 73.

His efforts ensured a poor start from the Indians, who fell to 58-3 as Rohit Sharma (5), Will Jacks (21) and Ryan Rickelton (25) struggled, counted for nought.

Having had Jacks caught by Vipraj Nigam, Delhi's Mukesh Kuma also had Tilak Varma (27) taken at long on, but he also gave up 27 runs in the penultimate over as Yadav got support from Naman Dhir (24 off eight).

KL Rahul slogged two fours off the first three balls of the chase, but the Capitals' first blow came when Faf du Plessis (6) handed Santner an easy catch in the second over.

Rahul was gone for 11 by the end of the third, with Rickelton's scooping catch raising the decibel level at the Wankhede, and the home fans entered party mode when Abishek Porel (6) followed before the end of the powerplay.

No gifts from SANTA #MumbaiIndians #PlayLikeMumbai #TATAIPL #MIvDC pic.twitter.com/6pKH8KZeVq

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 21, 2025

Sameer Rizvi (39) steadied the ship but barely scored above a run-a-ball before falling to an excellent 15th-over delivery from Santner, who took centre-stage with figures of 3-11, also dismissing Nigam (20) and Ashutosh Sharma (18).

Jasprit Bumrah joined Santner on three wickets late on, with Delhi skittled for 121. Mumbai can now relax ahead of Monday's regular-season finale against Punjab Kings.

Data Debrief: Mumbai accelerate into playoffs 

Mumbai had failed to make the playoffs in three of the last four IPL campaigns prior to this one, and they got off to a miserable start this year.

Four defeats in their opening five matches left Mumbai at the bottom of the standings, while the Capitals won their opening four contests to lead the pack.

But the two teams have been on very different runs of form since then, and it was Mumbai who showed their resilience in Wednesday's titanic tussle.

We are now in the 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 #MumbaiIndians #PlayLikeMumbai #TATAIPL #MIvDC pic.twitter.com/1fjbZ7vjGl

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 21, 2025

They had lost every IPL 2025 match in which they had lost two or more wickets in the powerplay prior to this one. But Yadav upped his strike rate from 126.92 to 235.29 in the final five overs, giving them a respectable total.

Santner then took three wickets but also conceded a meagre 11 runs in his four overs bowled – the fewest by any spinner in an IPL match at the Wankhede.