MI Emirates vs Gulf Giants, 26th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Four successive wins for MI Emirates and they are favourites to finish in the top two. Gulf Giants, despite losing five matches on the bounce, are still placed fourth on the points table. They are tied on 6 points with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Sharjah Warriors. On that note, it's time to bid goodbye. Tune in tomorrow for Dubai Capitals vs Sharjah Warriorz.

Muhammad Waseem | Player of the Match: Credit to my management. They’re backing me after every game, management and my captain, They’re keeping faith in me and I’m a believer in crucial games. The ball was swinging and we were thinking about only 3-4 overs. We were looking for the partnership and after those three over, we started playing normally. We were waiting for the bad ball.

Kieron Pollard | MIE captain: (Most clinical win?) Yeah, I’d say so. We started with the bat, and then the way the guys absorbed pressure early, it shows what you need to do in this tournament. It’s not about winning the game in the first six overs.The ball was moving and you have to respect that. I was really happy with that. From a bowling perspective as well, winning the toss, stats would have told it differently but stats don’t always tell the full story because there was dew here tonight. Waseem’s a senior batter for us, not just a UAE player. He’s been around a long time and scored a lot of runs, so he knows how to bat. For us, it’s about understanding the conditions and understanding what is needed and try to putting a professional performance. There’s no experimenting, cricket's about momentum.

James Vince | GG captain: We were a bit short of runs. We find ourselves batting first every game. Finding the right tempo and knowing what a good score is, losing wickets early halts the momentum. We finished the innings as well as we have recently but stumbled a bit at the start. Spirited effort with the ball, we got early wickets. It was really impressive. We needed to have them 50 for 4 to be able to keep the pressure on them and get ourselves in the game. Credit to the way those two guys batted at the end to see them through. 34% or something (chances of progressing to the playoffs), given the run we're on, I'll probably take that in a minute. We've got a couple of days off now and we've got to give it all in that last game and probably rely on a couple of other results. Still not out of it.

22:02 Local Time, 18:02 GMT, 23:32 IST: MI Emirates become the second team to progress to the playoffs. This win was set-up by their bowlers. They removed Gulf Giants' top three inside the powerplay. The scoring rate was on the slower side and even though Moeen scored a fifty, it was Mayers' cameo towards the end that took GG to a decent total. In reply, MIE lost two quick wickets. Pooran and Waseem started off slowly and stroke-making wasn't straightforward. Although they struggled for timing initially, batting got easier with the dew setting in. Pooran struck his first fifty of this season and so did Waseem who's been in good nick. An emphatic win for MI Emirates as they hunted down the total with 21 balls to spare.

Time-out. MIE in firm control of this game