20.5 Johnson times this beautifully, a kind of scoop with minimal force, over midwicket for six.

20.4 Dot to Johnson.

20.3 Saha swings, the ball goes down the ground, and Rohit manages to grass a dolly - sounds like something Philip Marlowe would say.

20.2 Saha backs away, makes room, and Kumar follows him - he misses a ball that passes leg-stump.

20.1 Vinay Kumar in, and Johnson squirts away for one down to deep square-leg.

19th over: Punjab 140-6 (Saha 11, Johnson 0)

19.6 Saha misses, Malinga beating him on the leg-side - not sure why that wasn’t a wide, but it wasn’t. 33 needed from 6 balls.

19.4 This is right into Bailey’s slot, but he misses looking to hoist over the on-side, and they run a leg-bye; he throws his bat once safe inside the popping crease.

19.3 Excellent delivery from Malinga, full and speared into the feet. Bailey makes room, swings, and edges into his boot, earning four at fine-leg.

19.2 Single turned away to square-leg.

19.1 I wonder if the batsmen should stand outside the crease to negate the yorker length, and Saha forces a leg-side full-toss for a one bounce four to long-leg.

18th over: Punjab 129-4 (Bailey 17, Saha 6) 22 balls without a boundary at the start of this over - not handy when the required rate is beyond 17.50. That says a lot about Mumbai’s bowling, which isn’t exactly threatening, but is tight, and even when McClenaghan goes wide and offers bounce, Saha can’t connect as he looks to flay over the off-side. That’s 0-25 for McClenaghan’s allocation - very well done him. 44 runs required from 12 balls.

17th over: Punjab 124-4 (Bailey 16, Saha 2) This seems to me to be over. Punjab just can’t find the boundaries they need, nor do they look like so doing. 49 runs required from 18 balls.

17th over: Punjab 119-3 (Miller 43, Bailey 13) Here comes Sugar Boy Malinga - the two overs he has left may well cement a victory for Mumbai, because these two don’t look at all likely to find the runs they need off the rest, let alone him.

16th over: Punjab 118-3 (Miller 43, Bailey 12) Back comes McClenaghan, and Bailey takes two from his first ball, down to extra cover. A single follows, bringing the lefty, Miller, onto strike - can he use that to negate the bowler’s angle? Apparently not, a leg-bye getting him down the other end, and all that follows from the remaining three deliveries is a single. Punjab are in a situation - they need 55 runs from 24 balls.

15th over: Punjab 113-3 (Miller 43, Bailey 8) Rohit must be keen to break this partnership - he brings Malinga back into the attack. He’s into it right away, spearing yorkers into the shins and generally looking more like himself than during the World Cup. He’s just so hard to get away - the batsmen try alright, but it’s not all that easy to play shots from mid-shin. This is slipping away from Punjab, who must get after things now - they need 60 runs from 30 balls.

14th over: Punjab 107-3 (Miller 39, Bailey 5) This is lovely from Miller, forward, down on one knee, and four tumped to the square-leg fence. But it’s the only boundary from the over, and that’s the end of a fine spell from Harbhajan, 1-28 from four its vital statistics.

13th over: Punjab 97-3 (Miller 33, Bailey 2) Pollard into the attack, towel flowing from his left buttock. He’s tight enough, ceding four singles and one two - Punjab look in reasonable control here, but need nearly 11 an over, and can’t really be having the rate increase.

12th over: Punjab 87-3 (Miller 28, Bailey 0) Miller takes four from the final delivery, but only when Simmons, at long-leg, is slow to arrive at it, diving underneath it and getting nowhere near an eminently presentable catch.

12th over: Punjab 87-2 (Vijay 39, Miller 24) Vijay turns two down to square-leg, and then misses a slower one from Harbhajan - the ball flicks up onto the thigh pad, after it’s turned. There’s a shout, looks a good yin, but Richard Ill’worth says no.

11th over: Punjab 82-2 (Vijay 36, Miller 24) Vijay’s had enough. He comes down the track to Suchith and swings hard, powering through the with the bat, so that when he doesn’t get all of it, there’s still enough behind it to beat the man running around the fence at long-on. eight from the over.

10th over: Punjab 74-2 (Vijay 29, Miller 23) Bhaji continues, and he’s finding a little turn, also trying to confuse the batsmen by varying his pace. Vijay really could do with getting boundaries or getting out, and he goes at the final delivery of the over, hitting over the infield on the off-side. The ball’s in the air a fair while, but no fielder is near enough to attempt a catch, and they run one.

9th over: Punjab 69-2 (Vijay 26, Miller 21) Oh yes, what an horrendous delivery from Suchith! Second ball is a full-bunger, on Miller’s pads somewhere around the roll, and it’s absolutely shmiced into the crowd at midwicket! It’s augmented by four singles and a wide, making it another handy over.

8th over: Punjab 58-2 (Vijay 25, Miller 13) On comes Bhaji, the last person you want to face when preparing to throw hands. Miller takes a single from his second ball - had the sub fielder collected at point, that would’ve been a run out opportunity - and then Vijay cuts, Malinga’s misfield at third man allowing three. And suddenly, this is a useful over for Punjab, because Miller slog-sweeps its last delivery through midwicket for four.

7th over: Punjab 50-2 (Vijay 22, Miller 8) Mumbai have a support staff member for each player; handy. Each takes to the field during the break, offering all manner of sage advice; and it works, too, Suchith wheeling through another tight over that cedes four singles and a leg-bye.

6th over: Punjab 45-2 (Vijay 20, Miller 5) Another good over for Mumbai, this, as the required rate nuges, creeps, inches and tickles above nine. Miller and Vijay can find only singles, and only three of them at that. Let’s share tactical notions!

5th over: Punjab 42-2 (Vijay 19, Miller 3) Already, Punjab are in shtuck - they’ve not taken proper advantage of the powerplay, and though the run-rate is still ok, they’d want to be ahead of the game at this point, rather than struggling to keep up.

5th over: Punjab 38-1 (Vijay 18, Maxwell 12) Maxwell reverse-sweeps Suchith for four - has that boundary in the previous over ignited him?

4th over: Punjab 33-1 (Vijay 17, Maxwell 8) Looks like Rohit fancies a Malinga up his sleeve for later - Vinay Kumar will bowl the third over. And he stats with two dots - Vijay plays a lovely shot to the second, but a classical off-drive picks out the fielder. Then, two more dots increase the pressure - the required run-rate is inching up towards nine - and Vijay nudges a single, before an extra-cover drive from Maxwell redeems a slow over.

3rd over: Punjab 28-1 (Vijay 16, Maxwell 4) Maxwell doesn’t look chill, fidgeting on the crease - he badly needs a score. He runs a single down to third man, and then, when McClenaghan strays straight, Vijay glances four to midwicket. And, oh, what a shot comes next, rising onto his tippy-toes to dismiss a shorter one through cover. Then, he dabs three down the ground, making this a decent over for Kings - 12 from it.

2nd over: Punjab 16-1 (Vijay 5, Maxwell 3) Talking of the fence, do people still use that term to describe a seller of illegal goods? One of various words learnt from Enid Blyton, along with “lashes”, as in “of lettuce”, and various others. Anyway, Maxwell gets off the mark thanks to an inside-edge, and then Vijay opens the face to hurry the first boundary off the bat, down to third man.

1st over: Punjab 9-0 (Vijay 1, Sehwag 2) Mitchell McClenaghan has a chest like a continent, and wears curtains too; it’s a fine look. His first two balls go for singles, and then, after a wide, there’s a delay while arms encroaching over the sightscreen are removed. Next comes a leg-bye and then four of them, the ball beating Sehwag’s bat as he tries to turn behind, flicking fine off the pad and racing down to the fence.

Right then, here we go - McClenaghan to open.

It’s funny, T20, in how rarely a batting team can keep at it for its full compliment of overs. Mumbai will feel they’re ten runs short of what they’d have wanted to get and perhaps 30 short of what they thought they’d get once the openers warmed up. They’ll need to bowl really well to win this.

20th over: Mumbai 166-2 (Simmons 71, Pollard 6) Pollard swings, taking two to long-leg - he drags Simmons through, though a direct hit and he’d’ve gone.

19th over: Mumbai 163-2 (Simmons 71, Pollard 3) It’s Sandeep to bowl the penultimate over, he of the both-way swing and yorker. And he starts really well, three of the latter ceding just three singles, before a slightly shorter one allows Simmons to drive - but Murali Vijay, on the point fence, is there for precisely this shot, only to fumble and allow four. Still, an excellent over - what a talent Sandeep is. Six yorkers!

18th over: Mumbai 154-2 (Simmons 65, Pollard 0) This has been a decent fightback from Punjab. Looks like they’ll have a chaseable target.

18th over: Mumbai 154-1 (Simmons 65, Rohit 26) Johnson returns, and Rohit mows at a wide one, squirting a single into the on-side. Then, Simmons makes to swing over extra-cover and sliced to fine-leg instead, so Johnson tries a slower-ball bouncer - it’s missed. Still, this is a very useful over, all the more so when Rohit’s not quick enough onto a well-directed bumper - he top-edges to square-leg, only for Sehwag to allow it through his fingers entirely unnecessarily.

17th over: Mumbai 146-1 (Simmons 65, Rohit 18) So, what’s Anureet got? He starts with a dot, and is then unlucky when Rohit barely gets anything on a slower ball, his almighty heave feathering an edge for four. Next, two are taken down the ground - had Miller’s throw hit, Rohit was gone, thanks in no small part to Simmons’ liberal interpretation of “running” - and then two more plus a wide and a single make this a decent over for the circumstances.

16th over: Mumbai 136-1 (Simmons 65, Rohit 9) It’s Patel again, and his first two balls go for a single apiece before Rohit slaps over extra-cover - it looks like he’s picked a gap, as cover and long-off converge but the former slides along the fence to save two. Simmons compensates, though, panelling a six into the sightscreen, and the charge is on. Accordingly, let’s have a time-out!

15th over: Mumbai 123-1 (Simmons 56, Rohit 5) Mumbai have been becalmed since Parthiv went - just as well for Punjab. They bring Karanveer Singh back, and the batsmen work the ball around a bit, but that’s three full overs without a boundary now.

14th over: Mumbai 118-1 (Simmons 56, Rohit 1) Unsurprisingly, they try pace at Sharma immediately, Johnson coming at him from around the wicket. Ulp. But he’s ready for a short one, turning a pull to square-leg to get off strike, and then Simmons lifts over extra-cover for two. It’s a better over, this, and almost yields a wicket when Simmons back-cuts, sets off, and has to scurry back when Maxwell collects and shies from point - direct hit and it’s gone, but he misses.

13th over: Mumbai 115-1 (Simmons 54, Rohit 0) Rohit Sharma, just what you need at 111-1 off 12.2. But in the meantime, Simmons cuts delightfully for four - he looks in almost perfect nick.

12th over: Mumbai110-0 (Simmons 49, Patel 59) On comes Maxi Maxwell, and he bowls a tight over - until the final delivery, zetzed over his head by Patel, who’s determined to get the Max.

11th over: Mumbai102-0 (Simmons 48, Patel 52) I wonder if Parthiv Patel feels that he’s never quite extracted the maximum from his talent - when he bats like this, is really seems so. He reaches his fifty with a shove to point, but otherwise, this is a better over for Punjab - Axar Patel with it - ceding a meagre six runs.

10th over: Mumbai 97-0 (Simmons 46, Patel 48) It never rains, but sometimes pours so hard it makes your head bleed. After Parthiv takes a one from Vijay’s loosener, Simmons cuts to third man, they hurtle through, the throw hits the stump, they take another, and Simmons punishes four through extra-cover. Then another single, and then Parthiv stomps to the pitch to slap four over the bowler’s head. This is excellent, considered, enterprising batting - usually, it’s not sustained over the course of twenty overs, but Mumbai could set an absolute monster here.

9th over: Mumbai 84-0 (Simmons 39, Patel 43) Punjab are ganting for something here, but after a single for each batsman, Simmons advances to thump a straight drive for four down to long-on that’s a really good shot, an especially tricky one to play against a leg-spinner. Then, two more singles, and a lovely back-cut, again by Simmons - it’s misfielded by Sandeep at point, so is quickly four more.

8th over: Mumbai 72-0 (Simmons 29, Patel 41) Johnson returns having swapped endz, and his first ball is straight - the left-handed Patel follows it, humping six far into the crowd at square-leg. What a shot that was! Johnson fights back immediately, addressing the toes, but Pathiv digs out well. Still, though, Johnson quickly strays again, and Patel flicks another four towards midwicket - that’s two overs gone for thirty, and this is a proper start now, so let’s have a commercial break.

7th over: Mumbai 60-0 (Simmons 28, Patel 30) Karanveer Singh into the attack, and he gives his first ball some air and flight - it’s turned behind for two by Patel. Then, after a single, Simmons deftly nudges three, and Patel slog-sweeps two more to long-leg; Punjab need to do something about this.

6th over: Mumbai 51-0 (Simmons 25, Patel 24) Axar Patel on, and Pathiv drops his first ball into the on-side, then sets off. But Simmons sends him back, and he’s struggling to make his ground, only for Maxwell’s wild throw to force Saha back - and his underarm shy misses, too. Dearie dear.

5th over: Mumbai 48-0 (Simmons 21, Patel 22) This is a decent start from Mumbai, underlined when Parthiv frees his arms to uppercut-glance a wide one for six at third man. So Johnson tries to angle into the stumps, and this time, Parthiv flicks four to square-leg, before slamming a cover-drive to the fence. 18 from the over.

4th over: Mumbai 27-0 (Simmons 21, Patel 5) Anureet needs to work on his consistency - he bowls far too many bad balls. And here’s one on the pads, turned away to finest leg - another easy boundary to Simmons. But the rest of the over is tighter, and it’s Mitch time, I’d guess.

3rd over: Mumbai 22-0 (Simmons 16, Patel 5) Sandeep offers Parthiv some width, and he throws the bat at it absent-mindedly, missing. But then the next ball is wide too, - not as wide, but shorter - and he’s so far down the pitch he can guide it through cover with barely a swing.

2nd over: Mumbai 16-0 (Simmons 15, Patel 0) We lose pictures for a bit, but Anureet is on from the other end, beginning with two dots. It looks proper hot in Mohali, and apparently it is - bowling and fielding will be a proper effort. Especially if leg-side nonsense is delivered, Simmons punishing the effrontery with four whipped to long-leg. Then he takes two to square-leg, and a leg-bye completes the scoring for the over.

1st over: Mumbai 9-0 (Simmons 9, Patel 0) Sandeep’s first ball is just shy of a length, seaming in, but his second is on the pads, so Simmons clips for four - there’s no fine-leg. Next one’s fuller, outside of, and and Simmons is forward and on one knee, cracking through cover and holding the pose. Don’t just stand there, let’s get to it, and all that.

Sandeep to open...

Sunday music to nod your head to.

Perhaps the most thrilling aspect of the IPL is the chance to see young Indian talents announce themselves - both Anureet and Sandeep look like they’ve got something. Both will need to bowl well today, because Punjab have the batsmen to win any game.

Few sporting contests allow as much margin for error as the IPL - Chennai, for example, are top of the league despite losing a third of a their games. But it’s getting to a point. Those well positioned daren’t lose form, and those poorly positioned - todays’ teams, for example - need to get on with it. The the IPL being the IPL, both are plenty capable of sorting themselves, so this should be a good game.