It was a special moment for Rohit Sharma as he slammed a brilliant fifty to guide Mumbai Indians to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table with a win over Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai on Sunday.

Rohit Sharma led from the front with an unbeaten 55 off 48 deliveries, his innings laced with eight fours. It was Rohit’s 36th IPL fifty, as MI eased to 134/1 in just 16.1 overs.

The three-time IPL champions, who finished in pole position with 18 points from 14 matches, will now take on second-placed Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier 1 in Chennai on Tuesday.

After his fifty, Rohit dedicated the feat to his daughter Samaira as he celebrated by cradling his bat like a baby.

“My daughter has been coming here every day to watch me play, but I didn’t get a lot of runs earlier. It was nice to get some runs today, but she was sleeping,” he said after the match.

At the end, this is what matters the most ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qnoB4jeQP9

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) May 6, 2019

MI ended the league phase with 18 points from 14 matches -- the same as Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals -- but they secured the top spot by virtue of better run rate.

This one's for you baby Samaira 💙💙 pic.twitter.com/HCrBWfYjMy

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2019

MI ended at a net run rate of 0.421 as against 0.131 and 0.044 of CSK and DC respectively. MI’s win meant that the KKR are knocked out of the tournament with Sunrisers making it to the play-offs at their expense on better net run rate.

(With agency inputs)

First Published: May 06, 2019 15:04 IST