IPL 7: Lost momentum in the middle, admits Tom Moody

Hyderabad: Disappointed at their loss against Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said that his team lost the momentum in the middle and fell short by at least 15 runs in their Indian Premier League match Hyderabad.

"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 the Mumbai was going to be a challenge, because they got match winners on their side. "Unfortunately 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 at the post match Press conference on Monday night after the Sunrisers lost to 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. 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. 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.

Asked how the loss against Mumbai would affect the Hyderabad's chances in the tournament, Moody said his team needed 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 you 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.

Whether he was disappointed with his spinners, Moody said they had done a great job for the team, though the shortcomings on the bowling front needed to be looked at. "Our spinners have performed superbly well in the last couple of years. In a way, the batsmen got better of them. But there are plenty of occasions when they get 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.

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) has always been 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.