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'Simmons, Ambati Rayudu snatched the game away from us'
The match against Mumbai Indians will haunt Sunrisers Hyderabad.
A disappointed Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said his team lost the momentum in Monday's Indian Premier League match in the middle and fell short by at least 15 runs.
"We have four games at home (Hyderabad). We knew the importance. It would have been nice to get off to a winning start. But we knew and respect that Mumbai was going to be a challenge, because they got match-winners on their side.
"Unfortunately, a couple of aspects of our game we did not get quite right; probably, 15 runs short of what should have been. We had the opportunity to bat first on a good wicket. We just lost a little bit of momentum in the middle," said Moody, after the Sunrisers lost to the defending champions by seven wickets.
"We finished very well. David Warner (55) was excellent. Otherwise, he saw the side right through the end," he added.
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'Rayudu and Simmons had a little bit of luck too'
Moody said it was Mumbai's Lendl Simmons and Ambati Rayudu, both of whom scored 68 runs each, who snatched the game away from the Sunrisers.
"It was really like Rayudu and Simmons decided that they needed to just take chances. They did that. They also had a little bit of luck with that. With their conviction, and with them being decisive with that plan, they got away from us. That put us under pressure in those middle overs. You got to give credit. It was a good partnership, match-winning partnership," he said.
Meanwhile, Rayudu said he was happy with his 46-ball 68 effort that had seven fours and two sixes in it.
"I was not batting the way I would have wanted to. I was working on my game and, thankfully, today I could make it," he said.
Rayudu, who hails from Hyderabad, said the ground (the Rajiv Gandhi cricket stadium) is always special to him.
"But we are professionals and we cannot choose where to play. I am really happy that I could bat well today," said Rayudu.
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'You need to pick yourself up and move forward'
Asked how the loss against Mumbai would affect Hyderabad's chances in the tournament, Moody said his team needs to pick up the threads and move ahead.
"You know, in this tournament, you need to bounce back. You need to pick yourself up and move forward. We are certainly aware that we are not going to have a perfect campaign, where you win every game, get into the finals and everyone is merry," said the coach.
"There is going to be times you need to ride the knocks and tonight is a knock that we have got to ride and you need to respond. How the side responds in our next match. Yes, we will review this performance. We look up what we did well and need to address what we did not do so well," he said.
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'Our spinners have performed superbly well'
Moody said the spinners have done a great job for the team, though the shortcomings on the bowling front need to be looked at.
"Our spinners have performed superbly well in the last couple of years. In a way, the batsmen got the better of them. But there are plenty of occasions when they get the better of the batsmen.
"I think, certainly, we are not going to get panic about. But it is something that we need to look at and make sure that next time we have the opportunity," he said.