New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody was all praise for his bowlers, saying the death bowling performance, in their eight-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Saturday, was the turning point in the match.
Delhi's fourth consecutive loss means they are all but out contention for the play-off spot while the win took Hyderabad (eight points) to fourth in the table two points ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders in fifth.
"We deserved to win, we bowled exceptionally well at the death. I think roughly 34 out of the 40 balls in the end were in the block hole," the former Australian all-rounder told reporters here.
"The turning point of the match was the way we finished the innings. We executed our plans brilliantly and reduced the target by 30-40 runs," he said.
After restricting the Daredevils to 143 for seven in 20 overs, the Sunrisers' innings was blighted by rain interruptions.
Their target was cut to 117 in 15 overs under the D/L method, when light showers stopped play for the second time in the match.
The target was further revised to 97 in 12 overs after rain interrupted proceedings for the third time.
Sunrisers were 11 for one in 1.1 overs when the skies opened.
At 17 for one in two overs, the rain once again came, interrupting the game for the fourth time.
Under the final revised target, Sunrisers needed 43 from five overs and they scored 44 for two in 4.2 overs.
Moody didn't dwell too much into the form of skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Aaron Finch, who have looked short of ideas at the top.
"A match-winning innings from Dhawan and Finch is just around the corner. I am not worrying about that but we still have considerable scope for improvement."
Meanwhile, Delhi batsman J.P. Duminy said that the 144-run target was never going to be enough and the batsmen needed to take the blame for that.
"The rain actually worked in our favour. 144 runs was never going to be enough but the rain gave us a small chance of staying in the game," he said.
"We can't blame the bowlers we just didn't get enough on the board. They bowled very well in the death and executed their plans brilliantly," he added.
