MI vs KXIP: Despite the brilliance of KL Rahul, Mumbai Indians clinched the Crucial Victory to stay in the hunt for the Top 4

Cricket News: Defending champions Mumbai Indians kept themselves alive in the tournament as they defeated Kings XI Punjab by three runs in their must-win game at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai

Bumrah, MoM: Clarity is very important when you bowl at the death. That’s what I look for. When I’m clear, it’s easier to execute. Plans don’t change at the last moment (of where to bowl), when you run in. If you’re changing at the last moment, that means you’re not clear. On a bad day a batsman could hit you, but you have to execute your plans. He’s (Rahul) batting really well since the start of the season. Difficult to bowl to someone like that. But I backed myself. Knew his wicket was very important. On this wicket, slower ball was not gripping that much from a good length due to the dew. So I was trying to bowl the dipper and I was able to execute so it was a good day.

Rohit, MI captain: Holding up nicely. After a win, obviously you feel good. I thought we played a perfect game. Whatever we asked from the boys, they came and delivered in the middle. Never been easy for us since the past few years actually. Knew it was going to be a good pitch. Lost the plot in the middle, could have got 10-15 runs more. Those things happen. Been happening for us a number of times now. Nothing to take away from the bowlers. Always knew it was going to be tough for them to come out and defend against a solid batting line-up. Hats off them to deliver the goods. Pollard has always been a match-winner for us. Leaving him out was a tough decision. We thought now was the time to bring him back. Not to take away from Duminy who hasn’t got opportunities. We thought if he’s batting down the order, Pollard will be the better option for us. Come the big game, Pollard stands up for us. He was disappointed at being left out. What he did with the bat today, that’s what he does. Bumrah has come a long way the past two years. He’s worked really hard on his bowling. Not easy to come out and bowl the way he does. He’s the one who’s taken the responsibility. Always Malinga will be missed, but since he’s gone, we’ve known Bumrah is the one to take the charge. He might not be up there in the wickets column, but what he does for us is very very important. Coming out and bowling at difficult times to a batsman who’s set, that’s what we require from him.

Ashwin, KXIP captain: (Hands over the Orange Cap to Rahul, who looks like he’d forego a hundred of those for a win) Pretty blank at this point of time. We were in the chase all along. Pretty professional batting effort compared to the last few games, but didn’t work out for us today. It looked like it would be a clinical romp for us, but Bumrah bowled really well at the death, and proved himself once again at the death. I’ve been in a dugout that has been on the edge always (CSK), but today we had a terrible day, and it’s quite sad the way things panned out today, so we need a bit of luck to get through now and depend on other results. We were very abject about it after last game, and we wanted to take the game deep and we wanted our best batsmen to be out there. Kudos to both KL and Aaron, but bad luck it for them it didn’t happen today. KL has done exceptionally well throughout, he’s the billion-dollar guy for us right now, and he has hardly missed a ball throughout the tournament. He’s been in and out of the Indian side as well for the last few months, so he was quite eager to prove himself with this opportunity and he has done extremely well for us today.