Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody on Saturday said the poor batting performance right from the start against Mumbai Indians led to the team's loss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter.
After Mumbai Indians elected to bat, the visitors restricted the hosts to 157/8 in 20 overs. But an excellent bowling performance by Mumbai bowlers Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan and Jagadeesha Suchith halted the Hyderabad total to 137/8 in 20 overs.
"Whether it's Indian players or overseas players, when you are batting at the top or middle, you have to take responsibility to take the team over the line. In the middle overs, our shot selection was poor. We paid the price at the end for not batting well," Moody said at the post-match press conference.
The coach denied the fact that the batting looked weak, saying the team sacrificed an extra overseas batsman in order to fit in an extra bowler. Hyderabad played both Dale Steyn and Trent Boult for the first time.
"I think we have a pretty good batting side. Today, we went in with an extra fast bowler. So we had to sacrifice an overseas batsman. That surely puts a bit of pressure or opportunity for an Indian player to step up and make a mark. That opportunity wasn't taken today. Overall I don't think we have got a weak batting side," the 49-year-old coach said.
"We felt it was the right decision to play both Steyn and Boult against Mumbai Indians and I think at the half way mark we would probably say it was a right decision to have been able to restrict them to 157," Moody said.