"At the end of the first innings, we thought we gave away 15 too many. It happens in this format," Dhoni said at the post match presentation ceremony after his team 14-run loss against Big Bash Champions.
The captain was all praise for Michael Hussey, Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina who tried their best to win it for the 'Men in Yellow'.
"We batted really well. Hussey and Faf batted brilliantly up front. After that Suresh Raina was aggressive and calculated throughout. If myself and Raina didn't get out, it would have been closer."
Sydney skipper Brad Haddin was happy that his team was able to start the championship with a win.
"It was important to get a good start, and that's what we did today," says Haddin.
"We need to get better and better as the tournament progresses. We know it's a hard ground to defend, so we needed all those runs in the last five overs."
Man-of-the-match Moises Henriques said that "it became easy to hit the ball towards the end of the innings. But they were right in it until the last couple of overs which shows how close this tournament will be. I was happy to see Steve Smith get under the ball when Raina hit that one up in the air."