Mumbai Indians climbed to the top of the points table after a 48-run victory over Kings XI Punjab at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

After losing a couple of wickets early, Rohit steadied the ship after crossing his fifty. Once he got out, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya went into a pinch-hitting mode. They ended up scoring 62 runs in the last three overs.

Skipper Rohit Sharma shared his thoughts at the post-match conference.

Pollard and Pandya back themselves to get those runs in the end

“I think it was a great win. Good to get those two points. We didn't start well but towards the backend, we wanted to capitalize. We knew the kind of attack Punjab has.”

“Pollard and Pandya always back themselves to get those runs in the end. They have done that on many occasions. We’ve got good balance with both in form. Overall, happy with the batting performances.”

The captain looks good when the bowlers execute plans well

“We knew taking early wickets would be crucial. The captain looks good when the bowlers execute plans well. Have to give a lot of credit to them. The good thing about IPL is we keep playing against different opposition so planning keeps changing.”

“I haven’t played much cricket with Boult and Pattinson so getting on the same page isn’t easy but we have created a great bond between us. They have now got an idea of what I need from them as a captain and I have got to know them better too.”

“Feels good scoring 5000 runs in IPL. Again I didn’t look too much into it. Winning the game was more important to us.”

It’s good to see Pandya striking the ball

Man of the match, Kieron Pollard was keen to prove a point after not being able to cross the line in the last game. The big man from Trinidad and Tobago scored a quickfire 47 runs from 20 balls.

“We were on the losing side last game, so we wanted to come out and get over the line, We needed to step up after getting 100 in the first 15 overs. You want to go for 15 plus in the backend overs.”

“It's good to see Pandya striking the ball. He had to come and swing and he showed his prowess. We know sky is the limit in the last 4 overs. We knew we had a couple of overs from spinners, and we were going to maximise against them.”

Sharjah boundaries are small, but we got to hit them right and execute well with the ball too. We can bask in the glory for now but we have an important game coming up in a couple of days.