Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar ended with combined bowling figures of 2 for 43 from their 8 overs © AFP

Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians' skipper credited his spinners for helping the team defend a below-par score against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, and as a result, secure their place in the playoffs.

Electing to bat, with a view to put pressure on the board as the motive overpowering the dew factor, Mumbai Indians could manage only 162. "The conditions here are such that, at times, the balls starts helping the spinners in the second innings," Rohit said in the post-match press conference. "Due to the dew, there is a bit of moisture on the wicket. We had noticed this during the game against RCB, we were chasing 170. In spite of scoring 70 in the first six overs, we struggled to chase down the total. Eventually, we did it in the final over.

"The behaviour of the pitch here has been different this year. It has been a bit up and down. And since it was an important match for us, we decided to put the runs on the board and then defend it. Because we know our bowling is good and we can defend it. Even against CSK, we had defended 170 here. Even today, we almost defended 162. It went to the Super Over.

"162 wasn't a big total but we bowled well. We took this confidence from our bowlers and decided to bat first. We wanted to put pressure on their batsmen. Their batting lacks experience. So no matter what we scored - 140 or 150 - we knew it was going to be tough for them to chase."

Mumbai Indians' defense worked as per plan for most parts as Sunrisers despite being ahead in the chase were pulled back in the middle overs. However, Manish Pandey's 47-ball 71*, including a last-ball six, helped them tie the scores and take the game to the Super Over. The Mumbai Indians skipper credited his spinners for bringing the team back in contest with some miserly spells. Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya combined to return figures of 2 for 43 from their 8 overs.

"Manish batted really well and he played some excellent shots but I think the game-changing moment was the eight overs of spin," Rohit said. "They bowled very well and contained the batsmen which was very important at that stage."

"Chahar and my job was to keep it tight in the middle overs," Krunal explained. "As a spinner, at Wankhede, you need to bowl variable pace because bowling the same pace allows the batsman to set himself up and hit on a batting wicket like this, so we knew we had to keep it tight."

However, the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai Indians was Jasprit Bumrah, who had picked two early wickets in the second innings, came back to dismiss Pandey and Mohammad Nabi in the Super Over to restrict Hyderabad to only 8 runs, a total which was overhauled in only three balls by Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard.

"He's (Bumrah) been brilliant for us and he keeps improving every game and he is hungry for success. He wants to be out there and express himself and he understands that he is a lead bowler for us. He held the nerve in the crucial overs and in the Super Over as well."

Explaining his ability to deliver in pressure situations over and over again, Bumrah said, "Sometimes the mind can get too negative, but I would like to focus on the ball which I have to bowl and try to keep clarity. If you are clear about the ball you are going to execute and you set the field accordingly and try to keep it as simple as possible.

"There's always pressure but I think what does the team require of me, so I'm just thinking one ball at a time and what I have to do on that particular ball. We (me, Lasith Malinga and Rohit) always talk as they have faced a lot of pressure situations and they (seniors) try to guide us. In the end, it's your own decision because if you back your own decision that's the best way to go and going forward backing yourself is always helping."

The victory has secured Mumbai Indians' place in the Top 4 but the possibility of finishing in the Top 2, and thereby avoiding the Eliminator, is still open. A better Net Run Rate than Delhi Capitals holds them in good stead, but MI too have some repair job to do in their batting.

"Feels good knowing that we are amongst the top four now. Not easy to come through the ranks and we have played some consistent cricket throughout and we have the results for it.

"(But) We got some work to do in the batting department, Quinny [Quinton de Kock] has been good but we need help from the other batters. The confidence is there and we need to understand what's the par score at a venue and I thought we did 70-80 percent of the basics right in the batting, only few games we let our batting collapse a little bit but we are hoping to get better."

Going ahead, the Mumbai Indians skipper said that they are keeping the option of promoting Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard up the order, open. "We are open to that option because you don't know who can bat where," he said. "At any given stage, if you look at the whole tournament, they have come to bat in the 14th or 15th over on most times and they have scored 70-80 runs. So, we won't forget what they have done.

"But you also have to look at the composition of the opposition bowlers - who are their likely bowlers who are going to bowl in the middle overs, who are going to bowl in the death overs. So, we have to exploit that to our advantage. If they have quality bowlers bowling in the middle overs, then we have to change the plan accordingly. That is the idea when we decide our batting side.

"On the positive side, right from number 3 till number 7, all these batsmen are flexible. They can bat anywhere, at any given stage. So, it also makes our job easier to send any batsmen at a particular point of time. We are keeping that option open with Pollard and Hardik (of promoting them up the order). Polly has done that on a few occasions."

Mumbai Indians are set to face Kolkata Knight Riders in their last league game, on May 5.