Sunrisers Hyderabad would have been wary coming into Sunday’s game against the maverick Kings XI Punjab, and their eventual 30-run win would have pleased coach Tom Moody mightily.
Kings XI have had an up and down campaign, so leaving Mohali with full points in the bag — with the qualifying race getting ever tighter — was gratifying for the side, who on the day benched regular skipper Kumar Sangakkara in favour of Aussie Cameron White. “There is very few second chances leading into the final stages and it is pleasing to walk away with a win,” Moody, a former Kings XI coach, said.
The Sunrisers’ competitive total was built around a solid 47-ball 61 from opener-wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel, and Moody was quick to recognise the value of the effort. “Today was Parthiv’s turn to put his hand up and hats off to him because it was a very mature innings, a responsible innings and enabled us to get the total that we got. At one stage, we were staring down the barrel,” Moody said.
Replying to Hyderabad’s 150/7. Kings XI could do n better than 120/9, which would have helped the winners’ cause when it came to net run rate, but Moody said they were more focused on doing as well as possible. “We are not looking at net run rate. It’s about us winning a game of cricket.
“There is no point looking at what other teams are doing, whether they are winning or losing. We know what we need to do and keep winning as many games as possible. Anything beyond ten (wins) is going to be a bonus.”
The Sunrisers now have eight wins from 13 games while Punjab have just five from an equal number of games played.
The Hyderabad coach felt his batsmen were still some way short of where they really needed to be. “It’s pretty obvious that our batting hasn’t been a strong point so far in the tournament. But in saying that, what we have done well is show character and from situations of adversity, we have managed to bounce back.”
Moody agreed conditions on the day, after a spell of cloudy weather and some rain, had come as a bit of a surprise. “Conditions were quite different from what we were expecting, the wicket was probably carrying a lot more moisture than what we expected. It didn’t have the pace and carry that we have come to expect in Mohali, where once the batsmen get in, an 180-plus score is what we expect.”