After having virtually brought Kings XI Punjab's campaign to an abrupt end in IPL-VI inflicting a 30-run defeat on them, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody tonight heaped praise on his opener Parthiv Patel, saying he played a very mature innings.
He said the team which had improved their chances of reaching the semi-final stage by virtue of the win was not looking at the net run rate.
"Today was Parthiv's turn to put his hand up and hats off to him because it was a very 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 about 100-110," Moody told reporters here after the match.
In response to Hyderabad's 150/7, Kings XI could manage only 120/9 in their home turf and were left with only a mathematical chance of reaching the play-offs.
Moody also praised his bowlers for having adapted to the Mohali track, which he said was playing different to its known nature of pace and bounce.
"There is very few second chances leading into the final stages and its pleasing to walk away with the win," Moody, who had once also coached KXIP, said.
Asked if the team was looking at net run rates as they were behind the top teams in this, he said, "look, we are not looking at net run rate.
It's about us winning the 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."
Hyderabad have eight wins from 13 games played so far while Punjab have managed just five wins from equal number of games played.
