Faced with a must-win situation on a dry pitch, Michael Hussey and Lendl Simmons produced a century stand for the first wicket - Mumbai Indians' best in 40 games - that helped them prevail over third-placed Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad.
Both batsmen scored half-centuries before Rohit Sharma used the platform as a springboard for a 19-ball 40 that lifted his team to 178. Their three spinners then shared two wickets each to give Mumbai Indians a comfortable win that took them level with Sunrisers Hyderabad on points.
However, one has to question the number of changes made by Royals ahead of an important match, given they were still not assured of a place in the playoffs.
Kane Richardson, the Royals seamer, had even mentioned on the eve of the match that they were in no mood for experimentation, but there were four changes when Shane Watson came for the toss. They swapped Ajinkya Rahane, easily their best batsman for such conditions, for Unmukt Chand, who hadn't played a game this season, while also benching their best bowler, Pravin Tambe.
With this loss, they have not only kept Mumbai Indians' dreams alive, but also got stuck on seven wins from 12 games with two difficult away matches to go - against Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians.
Unlike Royals, Mumbai Indians' changes didn't need an explanation. Corey Anderson had come to the end of the long rope he had got from the management, CM Gautam hadn't set the scene on fire with his batting and Lasith Malinga had left for England to join his national team. In came, Hussey, Krishmar Santokie and the young Karnataka allrounder Shreyas Gopal, all of whom played their parts.
Hussey had been dropped after only 30 runs in his first four matches for Mumbai Indians but on a slow pitch in Ahmedabad, he showed the quality that the team had been missing at the top of the order. He remained busy in the first half of the innings, manoeuvring the ball with ease, while his partner, Simmons, mainly looked for the big shots.
At the end of five overs, Mumbai Indians were on 34, and more importantly, without the loss of any wicket, nine more than their previous best opening stand this season.
Simmons wasn't comfortable with the deliveries that stopped on him but used powerful cuts and lofted shots whenever offered with the right length. He had six boundaries to Hussey's one as the partnership reached 50 in the seventh over.
Hussey, the more fluent of the two, just got better with the day. He crisply timed a length ball from Stuart Binny through covers for his second boundary before deftly punching a slower delivery from Rajat Bhatia through point for his third.
Off the first ball of the 11th over, he hammered a slower bouncer from James Faulkner over deep midwicket. He smashed another six in the next over, before nudging the next ball for a single to reach his half-century off 32 balls, easily beating Simmons to the landmark.
Both batsmen were dismissed in the 15th over, allowing Rohit just enough time to cut loose. Even though Kieron Pollard struggled for timing with the ball reversing, Rohit clobbered three sixes and a four in the last two overs that cost Royals 29 runs.
Mumbai Indians introduced spin early in the chase and Pragyan Ojha, who had just one wicket this season till then, struck twice in his first two overs to remove Chand and Watson.
Karun Nair played a free-flowing innings of 48 from 24 balls, but with batsmen offering catches at the other end, the Royals innings came off tracks early. Brad Hodge and James Faulkner, coming in at Nos 8 and 9, landed some parting blows but the match had long slipped out of Royals' hands.
Kings XI Punjab 165 for 6 (Akshar 42*, Vohra 42, Tahir 3-22) beat Delhi Daredevils 164 for 7 (Karthik 69, Pietersen 49) by four wickets
Kings XI Punjab became the first team to confirm their seat in the playoffs, with a four-wicket win over bottom-placed Delhi Daredevils, but what should have been a comfortable chase turned into a scramble for the finish line.
Against the best chasing team in the competition, Daredevils had to produce their best batting effort but they frittered a strong platform in the last four overs to post 164. Kings XI also suffered a few hiccups after a typically blistering start, and despite experimenting with their batting order, got home in the final over with two balls to spare.
An impetuous shot by Kings XI captain George Bailey - caught in the deep in the penultimate over - gave Daredevils a sniff and it came down to nine needed off in the 20th. Akshar Patel, the unlikely hero with the bat for Kings XI, was well set on 41 off 34 balls when Rishi Dhawan joined him.
The pair ensured there were no dot balls in the final over from Wayne Parnell to pile on the pressure, and with four needed off three Dhawan pulled to the deep midwicket boundary to seal the win.
The Kings XI's openers Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra blazed 67 off 6.2 overs, with Vohra the more dominant partner. Vohra's sixes down the ground stood out, particularly the back-foot punch off Mohammad Shami that sailed over deep cover. But in trying to attack Imran Tahir, he found M Vijay at long-off and went for 42 off 19 balls.
It was one of those rare days on which both Glenn Maxwell and David Miller failed. They also fell trying to attack the spinners - Maxwell off Tahir and Miller off JP Duminy. Kings XI were 95 for 4 off in overs but they had a contingency in the event of a Miller-Maxwell no-show. Bailey promoted Akshar over himself and it paid off.
Akshar ensured he never got bogged down, looking for singles and keeping the required rate within manageable levels.
Having moved to 18 off 19 balls, he had a productive over against Parnell, fetching three boundaries though he was lucky when an inswinging yorker deflected off his pad to third man. It was a close lbw shout but eventually given as runs. A six off Jaydev Unadkat brought the equation to 11 off 12 and the capacity crowd at the Kotla had to see the home team slump to a seventh straight defeat.
After being put in, Kevin Pietersen and Dinesh Karthik were commanding during their stand of 71 for the second wicket. Karthik was not afraid to play audacious shots off the seamers, such as his sweep off Sandeep Sharma that went flat over deep square leg. Pietersen took 18 off an over from Hendricks, and by the end of ten overs Daredevils were 84 for 1.
Just when his first fifty of the season was there for the taking, Pietersen fell to his old nemesis - the left-arm spinner. Batting on 49, he played down the wrong line to one that ripped off the pitch from Akshar and beat the bat. Karthik meanwhile was dominant against the spinners, lofting exquisitely down the ground.
Daredevils took 30 off overs 15 and 16 but it started going downhill with a spurt of wickets. Their best finishers, Duminy and Kedar Jadhav failed and the responsibility fell on Karthik for late acceleration. When Karthik departed for 69 - caught at deep square leg - his was the fourth wicket to go down in the space of nine balls. Daredevils managed only 20 off the last three overs and it cost them.
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