IPL finals: What you need to know

Who made it?

Mumbai Indians are the top dogs heading into the finals, having beaten Kolkata on Saturday to secure first place. The Indians were most recently champions under Ricky Ponting in 2015 and are back in the top four having missed out last year, when they finished fifth.

Steve Smith's Rising Pune Supergiant are into the finals for the first time in their second season, having thrashed Kings XI Punjab last night to jump into second spot.

It's a fair turnaround for the tournament new boys, who only won five games in their maiden year and finished seventh.

In third spot are the defending champs, Sunrisers Hyderabad, led by Australia opener David Warner – perhaps the competition's most in-form batsman and the owner of the orange cap, having passed 600 runs for the tournament.

And rounding out the finalists are Kolkata Knight Riders, who finish in fourth spot for the second-straight season.

Who's playing who, and when?

Tuesday night's match is a qualifying final between first (Mumbai) and second (Pune), with the winner waltzing straight into the Big Dance. It's on at 8pm local time in Mumbai, which is 12.30am Wednesday AEST.

Exactly 24 hours later, Sunrisers take on Kolkata in the battle between third and fourth in Bangalore. This one is sudden-death, with the loser exiting the tournament and the winner taking on the loser of the qualifying final on Friday night, also in Bangalore.

What Aussies are involved?

Mumbai have one man proudly flying the Australian flag – Mitchell Johnson. The left-armer has only appeared three times this season but came back into the side for the KKR clash on Saturday and his experience could be looked upon favourably by the Indians, who are missing Englishman Chris Woakes.

Pune, captained by Smith, also have leg-spinner Adam Zampa and big-hitting allrounder Dan Christian in their ranks. Smith and Christian have been regulars in the side while Zampa has returned for the franchise's last two matches, taking three wickets. Usman Khawaja is also on the books though he hasn't appeared yet this tournament.

Hyderabad also have an Australian skipper in Warner, while Moises Henriques has enjoyed a productive season in orange. Ben Cutting played four matches early in the season but hasn't appeared since, while Ben Laughlin is yet to get a game.

Chris Lynn has returned from injury with a bang and looms as a key figure for Kolkata, while Nathan Coulter-Nile did likewise, taking 11 wickets in four matches before two ordinary returns look to have put him on the outer.

Who will win?

Both matches appear a virtual toss of the coin, but Pune are on an impressive roll and Warner appears capable of dragging Sunrisers along with him at the moment, no matter the scenario they find themselves in. So it's Rising Pune Supergiant to surge straight into the decider, and Sunrisers to take on Mumbai in the second qualifier.