Mumbai Indians secured a five-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their reverse fixture at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the MI bowlers restricted RCB to 164/6 in their quota of 20 overs. Jasprit Bumrah was the pick amongst the bowlers with three wickets.

While chasing, MI started well before losing wickets in quick succession. However, Suryakumar Yadav was the standout performer with the bat as he scored an unbeaten 79 from just 43 deliveries.

Skipper Kieron Pollard addressed the media at the post-match press conference. The all-rounder shared his thoughts on Suryakumar’s knock, the performance of the bowling unit and strategies overall.

Is the team consciously thinking about the permutations and combinations? What’s the mood like in the camp?

Pollard: “We haven’t got much time to think about that. I think our main game today was to get two points. I thought we really went out and played well to get those two points. We have a couple of days thinking and watching the other games. Then we will be able to think about all these things, about the net run rate and whatever, but again after a defeat last game, we wanted to come back stronger.”

Winning the toss, bowling first. Was the team happy with the target of 165 at the midway stage? What was the par score according to you?

Pollard: “We were very happy. At one point, it looked like we were staring down the barrel of 190 to 200. I thought we came back really well to restrict a batting line up like RCB with wickets in hand and the position they were in, to 165. Well done to the bowlers, Bumrah coming back and getting wickets, Boutly as well. Krunal Pandya bowling four economical overs for us as well. It was a total team effort in terms with the ball and restricting them as well.

The bowling unit did a very good job for you in the middle overs and with RCB’s middle order, they stemmed the flow of runs. What was the discussion in the first strategic time out to control the flow of runs?

Pollard: “It was simple. We realized that they were 50 odd runs after the first six overs, that’s about 10 runs over par of what we expected. But it’s just a matter of staying there. Once we got a wicket, the spinners came into play and it worked for us. For a couple of overs, they got away from us again, but we were able to pull it back. Luckily, I came on at that time and got the wicket of AB with an innocuous delivery that could have gone straight for six and the momentum would have gone straight to them. So again, a bit of luck on our side as well but I think the guys bowled well.”

Well-directed short balls and low full tosses have emerged as key weapons for fast bowlers in the IPL, your thoughts, and perspective on that?

Pollard: “I guess the low full tosses are one that just comes off. You don’t deliberately look to bowl a low full-toss. You are looking to nail that yorker and it is difficult to hit a low full toss. But again, you use the pitch. The grounds are big enough. Sometimes you got to do what the wicket tells you to do, and bowl in that sort of a situation. We used the short ball pretty well, especially in this game.”

What do you make of Suryakumar’s innings and the value of that particular knock?

Pollard: “I think it was very valuable. We always spoke about one of the top three batting all the way through if we’re chasing, go all the way through and win the game for us. I think he has done that more often than not. The last couple of times he gave it away. But, you keep learning every time. He has been taking constructive criticism pretty well because he wants to do well. Today again, he showed his class and how well he can bat up. Deep down inside, he has a burning desire to don that blue but again he continues to show consistency which is all that he can do as an individual.”

In the last three games against RCB, MI have been successful in keeping Virat Kohli in check. What is it that you have figured out so that he doesn’t score those big runs against you?

Pollard: “I don’t think you expect me to answer that one. We might still have to play them in the tournament again. So again, we go back, we sit, we plan and hopefully, whatever plans we come with, it works. But he’s a class player, takes a couple of balls for him and he can take the game straight away from us. So we are not getting too much ahead of ourselves. We take it as it comes and hopefully see what happens next time around.”