Kolkata Knight Riders 171 for 4 (Gill 56, Sakariya 1-23) beat Rajasthan Royals 85 (Tewatia 44, Mavi 4-21, Ferguson 3-18) by 86 runs

Unless Mumbai Indians pull off a miracle even more miraculous than their great escape of 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders have sealed the fourth and final playoffs spot in IPL 2021. On another Sharjah pitch with treacherous low bounce, Knight Riders enjoyed the perfect game on Thursday - a solid opening stand to ensure they'd get to a competitive total after being sent in, a series of cameos from their middle order to lift them to the season's best total on this ground, and a ruthless bowling display to keep Rajasthan Royals to their second successive sub-100 total.

They might have preferred to chase given all the net-run-rate permutations, but this route suited them just fine too. They began the day with an NRR of 0.294, and their 86-run win lifted it to 0.480. Mumbai, who are on -0.048, will have to defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by a ridiculous margin on Friday to bridge that gap.

How ridiculous? They'll need to win by 171 runs if they bat first. And if they lose the toss and bowl, they'll have no chance of making up their NRR deficit. The Knight Riders don't just have a foot in the playoffs, they have everything but their trailing little toe in them.

More to follow...