KKR thus moved to 10 points from 11 matches and maintained their chances of reaching the knockout stage.
Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma after the toss said, "Just feel that we have tried everything in the two games we have played. From here on, every game is important. Need to focus on the game at hand... Keep ticking the small boxes and see what we can do as a team here. [Hardik] is very passionate about the game and the comeback. He is playing tonight. Saurabh misses out, and we have Hardik back."
The 32-year-old has played 298 innings before Sunday's match and has scored runs at an average of 41.61 with the help of five hundreds and 73 fifties. His highest individual score was 113. His career strike-rate has been an impressive 134 plus.
KKR got off to a bad start, consolidated in the first 10 overs, lost some momentum between overs 14-16, and then finished with a flourish as they kept alive their hopes of using the slow track to their benefit.
Chris Gayle's quiet time at the crease ended with Rashid Khan getting one to turn in, trapping him lbw in the eleventh over. Nicholas Pooran slammed Sandeep Sharma for a six over deep mid-wicket.
DC spinner Ravichandran Ashwin added another feather to his illustrious cap when he dismissed Rajasthan Royals batsman David Miller to grab his 250th wicket in T20 cricket. Ashwin became only the third Indian after Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla to do so.
Chennai Super Kings registered an assertive six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Sharjah
After electing to field first, Kolkata started the innings with Nitish Rana taking the new ball. His first ball was driven by Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma for a creamy drive through extra cover. It was an indication of what was to come in the power-play.
The deadly Covid-19 virus has come back to haunt IPL 2021 yet again. This time Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer T Natarajan tested positive for the virus in a scheduled RT-PCR test. The 30-year-old has isolated himself from the rest of the SRH squad and is currently asymptomatic.
Sanju Samson, the Captain of Rajasthan Royals has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match against Punjab Kings at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday
T Natarajan from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) has tested positive for COVID-19 during a scheduled RT-PCR test ahead of the team's match against Delhi Capitals later on Wednesday.
With the second phase of IPL 2021 already underway, Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals are ready to clash tonight (September 21) at Dubai International Stadium.
A few days back, Kohli had decided to step down as India's T20 captain to lessen his workload. Virat Kohli decided to step down from T20 captaincy after the upcoming T20 world Cup scheduled to be held in Dubai this year.
Electing to bat first, Chennai got an early jolt with Trent Boult taking out Faf du Plessis for a three-ball duck, slashing straight to Adam Milne at short third man. In the next over, it was Milne's turn to take a wicket, taking out Moeen Ali for a three-ball duck, hitting straight to short cover.
MS Dhoni returns as captain for Chennai while Kieron Pollard is captaining in Rohit Sharma's absence. Dhoni said that the pitch at Dubai looks better and setting a target would be a better option.