It is no-one's fault.
Of course, that rarely sits well with the recently vanquished. The normal process is to find flaws in the performance and then work on improving those areas.
Otago has not had to do a lot of that sort of navel-gazing recently. The Volts had won 11 consecutive HRV Cup games but came unstuck against Northern Districts at the University Oval on Saturday night.
Northern bowled with more discipline and batted with more purpose.
The two teams will meet again tonight in Hamilton and, for Otago captain Derek de Boorder, it is opportunity for his side to show what it learnt from its rare defeat.
''We were definitely outplayed on Saturday, with both bat and ball, and we learnt a lot,'' he said.
''We have to be a lot more precise with the length we bowl. Our execution just wasn't there.
"We bowled both sides of the wicket, which didn't help. And we could have been a little bit more attacking through the middle and later stages with the bat.''
Playing Northern Districts again so soon was ideal, de Boorder suggested.
''We know exactly what we are coming up against. We know what their overseas players offer. We know how they are going to bowl to us and we can formulate a plan to hopefully combat how they are going to come at us.''
Australians Daniel Harris and Ben Laughlin were instrumental in Northern's nine-run win. Harris swatted 68 runs from 37 deliveries and Laughlin took one for 20 from his allotment of four overs.
With experienced campaigners Scott Styris and Daniel Vettori also in the line-up, Northern will start as the favourite.
While Otago can work on its perceived flaws, one thing it can not do much about is what personnel it will have available.
The Volts have become a victim of their success, to a certain extent. Opener Neil Broom was the Volts' best-performed batsman on Saturday but has joined provincial team-mates Nathan McCullum, Jimmy Neesham and Hamish Rutherford on the Black Caps tour of Sri Lanka.
All-rounder Ian Butler is sidelined indefinitely with a serious back complaint but he would have been in Sri Lanka if he was fit.
The side has been gutted but there is some positive news with spinner Nick Beard returning from a muscle strain. He will take the spot vacated by Broom.
Top-order batsman Aaron Redmond may push up one place to open with Jesse Ryder, in Broom's absence. Sam Wells has also batted there in the past and another option is for Iain Robertson to take on the role.
Despite the significant changes to personnel and the recent loss, de Boorder said the team remained confident.
''Obviously, those guys were a key part of our side last year but by no means does that mean we can make excuses.
"We've got a good core group and we showed last year we can win, even without our Black Caps.''
Northern Districts has also included Black Caps fast bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Southee has recovered from ankle surgery in July, while Boult has returned from Bangladesh, where he was on test duty.
Otago leads the competition with six points from three matches. A win against Northern would consolidate its position.
HRV Cup
Hamilton, tonight, 7.10pm
Otago: Sam Wells, Jesse Ryder, Aaron Redmond, Ryan ten Doeschate, Michael Bracewell, Derek de Boorder (captain), Iain Robertson, Mark Craig, Neil Wagner, Nick Beard, James McMillan, Jacob Duffy, Bradley Scott.
Northern Districts: Daniel Flynn (captain), Jono Boult, Trent Boult, Daniel Harris, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ben Laughlin, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling, Brad Wilson.
