Absolutely clinical stuff this. At 2/2 there was a bit of a scare, but a 140-run stand between Muhammad Waseem and Nicholas Pooran made sure there were no surprises in store as MI Emirates chased down the target of 142 easily with 21 balls to spare. This now means the MI Emirates have stamped their boarding pass for the playoffs. YEP, THE Q IS OFFICIAL! 

W, W, W, W

Talk about winning when it matters. Come the business end, trust MI Emirates to bring out their A game and go on a victory run. The last two games might have been close wins, but this was pretty authoritative. The seamers did their job first up to keep the Gulf Giants to an under-par total of 142, and then one big stand for the third wicket was good enough. 

The Waseem-Pooran show

Muhammad Waseem: 59 runs | 42 balls | 3 fours | 3 sixes 

Nicholas Pooran: 69 runs | 49 balls | 6 fours | 3 sixes 

Coming together with Jonny Bairstow and Tom Banton falling cheaply, the duo were watchful in the beginning, taking their time to find their timing. It was in the eighth over that Waseem first cut loose, smacking two boundaries off Kyle Mayers. Pooran, for a large part of his innings, was batting at under a run a ball. But then in no time stuck a few big ones, brought the asking rate well within control, and then even overtook Waseem to bring up his fifty. 

Advantage seized in the bowling powerplay

The game was won with the ball. And more precisely, in the powerplay, with Romario Shepherd and Fazalhaq Farooqi sending back the top three batters inside the first four overs. Although Moeen Ali got a fifty, he was always playing catchup. 

Woohoo. We are into the playoffs. We are firmly in the top two on the points table. We have the rhythm. Let’s bring it home!