Matthew Hayden admitted he mis-read the conditions and quality of opposition but was thrilled with his effort in the win.

Hayden, the leading run-scorer in the tournament, hit an unbeaten 60 from 57 deliveries but had struggled to put bat to ball for the better part of his innings against the Mumbai Indians.

His knock helped the Super Kings reach the victory target of 148 and assured his team of a spot in the semi-finals.

"The bat felt very small for the first 35-40 balls of this innings," Hayden said.

"It's amazing how even experienced players get their strategy wrong.

"To turn it about was pleasing, not so much personally, but for the team.

Now, that's the way to win

"It was such a good win and an important one for us today."

The Super Kings have experimented with the opening pair and today Murali Vijay was dropped in favour of Parthiv Patel.

The left-hander was out to the first ball of the innings, but Hayden suggested Parthiv should be persisted with.

"Parthiv was a bit unlucky today, but he's a good striker of the ball," Hayden said.

"He a slightly different player and hits in different areas to me.

"I think that's important to any opening partnership."

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni indicated Parthiv was the preferred choice to partner Hayden at the top.

"We are still experimenting with the opening slot," Dhoni said.

"Hayden is brilliant, but we need to find him a good partner at the other end.

"I think Parthiv can fill in that slot; he has the experience, he's a gutsy player and he has got the runs for us in the past.

More chances for Parthiv

"We will give him a go in a couple of matches before the knock-out stage and hopefully he would deliver in the semi-finals."

The loss ended Mumbai's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals and it left captain Sachin Tendulkar disappointed.

"We have tried every combination in the batting order as well as every bowling option, but every time we have fallen short," Tendulkar said.

"We haven't played well in crucial moments and it's the crunch moments which decide games.

"Our bowlers have given away runs with wides and extras at crucial moments and we haven't had enough runs on the board too. So it's a combination of factors."