Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians and KL Rahul's Punjab Kings both need wins as they chase a spot in the top four. Get ready for a tough scrap.
Hardik and Pollard power Indians home
9.49 pm
Death bowlers continue to be the difference between the two sides today. Arshdeep misfires on an attempted yorker in the 17th and Pollard slaps him through extra cover for four. KL Rahul rearranges the field to put an extra man on the boundary at extra cover straight after, resulting in three men on the off side ring at deep cover and long-off as well, but it doesn't matter. Pollard latches on to an overpitched ball and crushes it high over the long-off rope for six.
Now Hardik uppercuts a short ball from Shami over short third man up in the ring in the 19th for a boundary. Another short ball is pulled high over midwicket on the ring and splits long-on and deep midwicket converging at the rope, with a fumble committed by Deepak Hooda to confirm the boundary which puts Indians one shot away from victory. Another back of a length ball from Shami is clubbed flat to Hooda at long-on and he lets it go straight through his hands and over the rope for six. Back-to-back misfields by him turn into the 10 game-clinching runs for Mumbai Indians to confirm a six-wicket win with an over to spare.
So Mumbai join KKR on 10 points but are miles behind them on net run rate so are officially in fifth place now after this victory over Kings. Meanwhile, Punjab are in sixth place on eight points. That's it for today's doubleheader coverage. Come back tomorrow for more IPL action!
Hard-hitting at the death
9.34 pm
Kings didn't hit a single boundary in their final four overs. Hardik Pandya has just provided two crucial ones for Mumbai Indians off back-to-back balls against Mohammed Shami in the 17th. After heaving Shami over midwicket for a boundary, he flicks him high over square leg next ball for six onto the grass embankment emblazoned with "Abu Dhabi" in white paint. 29 off 18 needed now with Kieron Pollard alongside Hardik at the crease.
Awardless Tiwary departs
9.23 pm
Today is Saurabh Tiwary's 169th T20 match in a career that began in 2007 for the format. He has never won a Player of the Match award in any of those 168 T20s entering today. Can he claim the award on this night in Abu Dhabi? Well he's just made life a lot harder on himself, his team and the post-match adjudicators after edging behind for 45. He was trying to run a ball from Nathan Ellis off the open face to third man for a single but his timing is thrown off by an Ellis slower ball and KL Rahul dives forward to pluck the chance inches from the ground. Strategic timeout taken at the fall of the wicket. Mumbai now needs 44 off 29 balls and Kings are making them fight hard for every single run.
Another chance goes down
9.13 pm
Hardik Pandya is given a life on 7. Arshdeep bowls a cutter that is mistimed to backward point but Harpreet Brar shells the chance reaching above his head two-handed. It wasn't coming that fast and he didn't need to leave his feet to reach it. Had to be held. Some poetic justice perhaps for Arshdeep after his incident with Tiwary?
You'll find ball-by-ball commentary here in English, and here in Hindi. If you're in the USA, you can watch this game on ESPN+ in English, as well as in Hindi.
Shami wicket whammy
8.59 pm
Quinton de Kock can't make the most of the extra life. Mohammed Shami gets him to drag a length ball onto off stump in the 10th to fall for 27 off 29 balls. De Kock's far from fluent innings has kept this chase tight as Kings continue to fight. 62 for 3 at the halfway point. 74 needed off the last 10.
And now a bit of tragicomic drama here in the 12th. Saurabh Tiwary punches back a length ball to the bowler Arshdeep Singh for what seems like an innocuous dot ball. Arshdeep decides to needlessly fling the ball back, ostensibly at the stumps, in his follow through but nails Tiwary flush in the general area of the box and Tiwary goes to the ground sucking wind. There was really no reason for the throw. Tiwary wasn't attempting a run. Arshdeep is pleading for forgiveness with an impish grin but it'll be interesting to see if he has a date with the match referee after play concludes.
Nearly a third for Bishnoi
8.43 pm
Quinton de Kock tries to go inside out over extra cover with a lofted drive to end the eighth. Aiden Markram tracks 30 yards from long-off and puts in a full extension diving effort but it pops out of his hands and into the rope for four to move him to 21. Kings need everything to stick tonight but can't get a wicket there and now Saurabh Tiwary goes boom in the ninth, charging like a rhino at Harpreet Brar to heave the left-arm spinner over wide long-on for six to bring up the team 50 for Mumbai.
Big-time Bishnoi!
8.22 pm
The leggie Ravi Bishnoi is on a hat-trick in the fourth over. Rohit Sharma heaves him flat to mid-on for the first wicket to fall in the chase before Suryakumar Yadav is bowled misreading a googly. Saurabh Tiwary flicks at the hat-trick ball floated full on middle and a leading edge floats short of cover. But the 21-year-old has quickly spun Kings back to life in this match defending a low total.
Bumrah and co. too good
7.57 pm
Just your standard fare death bowling performance from Jasprit Bumrah. No boundaries in the final four overs for Kings as Bumrah concedes 11 in his last two overs while taking the wicket of Deepak Hooda. Nathan Coulter-Nile is just as miserly at the opposite end giving away 12 off his final 12 balls. Mumbai Indians need 136 to win and look like firm favorites to do it. Kings flagging at the death
7.42 pm
After Trent Boult leaks three boundaries in a 15-run over, Rahul Chahar defeats Markram on a sweep to bowl him and break the half-century stand. Jasprit Bumrah continues to reassert command at the death as he induces a catch at long-off to dismiss the other set batter in Deepak Hooda. Pollard is the one to clutch on. After claiming his 300th wicket earlier, he now has 311 catches in T20 cricket. No other outfield player has even claimed 300 catches in the field in the format.
Krunal and Pollard's milestones
7.18 pm
After bowling three in the Powerplay, Krunal Pandya comes back for his final over in the 13th and concedes just singles and twos to end with 1 for 24 in four overs. His wicket of Mandeep Singh earlier made him just the eighth player in IPL history to have scored 1,000 runs and taken 50 wickets. Kieron Pollard's double-strike earlier took him to 300 career wickets in T20 cricket as well. Aiden Markram and Deepak Hooda meanwhile have produced a half-century partnership to help Kings claw back into this match after all those early breakthroughs, but they're still well behind and will need a strong boost late to get up to a defendable total.
Far from Preity innings
6.49 pm
Punjab's movie star co-owner Preity Zinta is looking glum in the VIP box at the moment, far from her usually cheery self, as another wicket falls in sloppy fashion. Nicholas Pooran swings over a full toss from Jasprit Bumrah that thuds into his pads just below the knee. The only doubt was whether impact was in line or outside leg stump but the umpire upholds Bumrah's appeal. Pooran is in shock: A that he missed the ball and B that he's been given out. He calls for DRS but no reprieve is forthcoming. Mumbai are in total command after 8 overs when the strategic timeout is taken at 50 for 4.
Pandya brothers enter the fray
6.38 pm
Krunal Pandya had Mandeep Singh frustrated throughout the Powerplay and Rohit Sharma's decision to keep him on to bowl three straight in the initial fielding restriction overs pays off. Mandeep shuffles too far across his stumps trying to sweep over fine leg and misses. The umpire takes an eternity and finally gives Mandeep out, almost by the time Mandeep has reached the non-striker's end. KL Rahul talks him out of burning a review and with good reason. Ball-tracking shows three reds. The only doubt was whether the impact was in line with off stump but that is confirmed to be true along with the more obvious path of the ball crashing into the stumps. Powerplay round goes to Mumbai Indians 10-9 with the late uppercut from Krunal.
Moments later in the 7th over, Kieron Pollard dismisses his West Indian mate Chris Gayle for a very soft 1 off four balls with a length ball pulled flat to Hardik Pandya at long-on as Mumbai strikes a harsh body blow early in round 2. The hits keep on coming now as Mumbai continue to land a flurry of power punches to have Punjab Kings staggering on the ropes. A few balls after Gayle falls, KL Rahul is (slower) bounced out by Pollard for 21, gloving a pull to short fine leg. Pollard is hardly rapid and it shows on this occasion as he fools Rahul with an offcutter, and a mistimed pull shot goes to Jasprit Bumrah. Kings are looking more like paupers at the moment.
No no, oh Man...
6.17 pm
Krunal Pandya bowling with the new ball floats a juicy waist high full toss outside off that Mandeep Singh mishits off the toe of the bat for no run. The police siren goes off to signal a no ball bandit on the loose at Zayed Stadium as Krunal has overstepped. But Mandeep wastes the free hit too as a good length ball is tapped gently to extra cover. He finally is able to pick the gap there at the end of the over for a boundary to finally get unstuck. Honors even after the first three overs. No wickets but Kings aren't sprinting away yet in the Powerplay either.
Three lineup changes, now three teams left on 8 points
5.47 pm
The early doubleheader match is over now in Sharjah and KKR have topped Delhi Capitals to move up to 10 points. So now the two sides out in Abu Dhabi are playing catchup with them to get back into playoff position.
Mumbai Indians have chosen to field first at the toss and made two changes with Saurabh Tiwary and Nathan Coulter-Nile coming in for Ishan Kishan and Adam Milne. Kings have made one swap with Mayank Agarwal having to sit out with a stiff neck. Mandeep Singh comes in for him.
5.43 pm
Time to break up the crazy 8s
5.20 pm
Half the IPL table is gridlocked on eight points at the moment, and that includes the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings. Whoever comes out on top today in Abu Dhabi will create a little bit of separation to move two points clear into the last playoff position. Mumbai in particular will be looking to bounce back in a big way after being on the receiving end of Harshal Patel's hat-trick in their previous encounter, a loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore.