JOIN USSunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling has been so effective that despite a prolonged lean run from their middle-order batsmen, they have been able to stay atop the bowling. Their coach Tom Moody, however, played down the concern blaming their poor returns on difficult conditions.
“You also need to consider the opportunities the middle-order get and the conditions that they play in,” emphasised Moody on Wednesday. “We've had the last couple of games where we have had brilliant partnerships between Shikhar (Dhawan) and Kane (Williamson), which has given the middle-order limited opportunities to express themselves and have a major contribution to the total.
“The second part to that is, we’ve played in conditions that have been challenging and hard to play free-flowing game -- when you walk into bat at 4 or 5 and suddenly you are smashing the ball the around. We haven't had wickets and conditions to do that. So, at the end of the day, I don't really look at it too critically. I sort of look at the circumstances our players have faced -- the time they have come in, the conditions they have faced. I don't think it is too much of a concern with the middle order at all. At the end of the day, we are winning, aren't we,” he asked.
Sunrisers have consistently defended sub sub-140 totals and the former Australian all-rounder attributed adaptability factor to the success of his bowlers. “I think if you look at our campaign and the conditions we have played in, I think our bowlers have adapted better than the teams we have played against in those conditions,” he reasoned.
“So, the credit goes to their ability to assess those conditions and exploit those conditions the best. You know, if you are playing on wickets on which you are scoring only in between 140-150 range, your boundaries are going to be limited. So, I just think they have adapted pretty well throughout this tournament. We have really played well on wickets where you know are in those high 100s. You know 180-190. We we’ve had to manage both our batting and bowling in whichever conditions we have played in,” he explained.