Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer was of the opinion that his team lost the Tuesday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first six overs of the match itself.

Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Delhi Capitals by a gigantic margin of 88 runs to hand them their third defeat on the row. Batting first, the Orange Army posted a mammoth total of 219/2, thanks to blitzkrieg knocks from wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha (87 off 45 balls) and skipper David Warner (66 of 34).

“We lost the game in the powerplay itself. Getting 70 runs in the first six overs was really commendable and the way they went after our bowlers was amazing,” said Iyer after the match. Warner and Saha put up an opening partnership of 107 runs within the first 10 overs and SRH eventually reached 219/2. DC were blown away for just 131, thus sealing their third consecutive defeat of the season.

“Definitely a big loss for us but you can’t really bog down at this point of time. We still have two games left but one win is really important, that’s what we are waiting for since the last three games. Back-to-back losses is definitely going to put us under the pump. The boys are really strong, really motivated and this loss is definitely going to motivate us,” said Iyer.

“We need to have that strong and positive mindset. These losses are not going to put us down. As a team, we have been doing amazing throughout so these few matches shouldn’t get into our heads. Next match, we’ll see to it that we have done our studies right, we’ll also see to it that we are putting in our best efforts on the field.”

Chaing, Delhi Capitals were blown away for 131 as they succumbed to their defeat on the row. World number T20 bowler Rashid Khan was the chief architect of the Shreyas Iyer-led team’s defeat as he returned with impeccable figures of 3/7 after his spell of four overs.

The win at the Dubai International Stadium helped Sunrisers Hyderabad to take their points tally to 10 from 12 matches and stay in contention for a knockout berth. They are currently placed at sixth. Delhi, on the other hand, are at third with 14 points from 12 matches.