How Mitch’s strikes titled scales in MI’s favour - Mumbai Indians

That’s how you’ll get consistent and step out of that emotional roller-coaster.Asked about his moustache, McClenaghan said, “Yeah, it’s good, isn’t it?“We thought Quinton was thinking that I’ll bowl him couple of slower ones (like I did in the first over).

When Mitchell McClenaghan stepped up to bowl his second over on Tuesday evening, Royal Challengers Bangalore were sitting pretty on 40/0 in four overs. Both Quinton de Kock and Virat Kohli were batting on 19, and had together hit six fours and a six.

McClenaghan, who conceded just seven runs in his first over, needed all of four deliveries in his second to tilt the scales in Mumbai’s favour. First, the New Zealander dismissed de Kock with a delivery that angled into the left-hander. The South African, who charged down the wicket with the intent to hit it over the ring on the off-side, could only watch in dismay as the ball hit top of off stump.

McClenaghan wasn’t done. After removing de Kock for the third time in five matches, he accounted for the big scalp of AB de Villiers just three deliveries later. Getting ABD out is an achievement in itself. But getting him out for a solitary run is simply awesome. McClenaghan bowled a short-pitched ball on middle stump and de Villiers happily played the pull. However, it landed in the hands of Hardik Pandya who only had to take a few steps forward to do the rest.

After the match, McClenaghan spoke about his double strike in a Facebook Live session. “We thought Quinton was thinking that I’ll bowl him couple of slower ones (like I did in the first over). So, he was picking up the slower ones at the hard length. He missed this one and, thankfully, he just mistimed it. Could’ve gone for six (chuckles), but we’ll take these breaks (wickets),” McClenaghan said.

He admitted that getting the wicket of de Villiers “massively” impacted the match. He also said in jest that Krunal Pandya was a bit “upset”. After all, Pandya Sr had dismissed ABD four times in as many games. “On a ground this small and the wicket this good, if ABD and Kohli had kept going at that point of the game, it could have been scary and it could have been an incredibly close game. In T20 cricket, there are a few things (that you want to go your way). When they come off, it’s good. Otherwise, players like ABD are going to punish you,” McClenaghan said.

Asked about the mood in the dugout when we were two wickets down in the first over, he said, “Oh, I was upstairs (in the dressing room). When the boys were coming out to play, Ashish Nehra (RCB bowling coach) said that it’s going to swing around the corners. I think we saw that in the first two balls. Umesh (Yadav) has obviously done that in Test cricket but it was exceptional perfection on his part to swing the ball off a good length. Thankfully, the lucky thing for us was that we have got Rohit (Sharma) who is a genuine opening batsman. So, coming in at No. 4, he’s used to being in that situation. He came up trumps, and that was outstanding.

McClenaghan termed “amazing” the 108-run partnership between Sharma and Lewis. “If we had lost another wicket in the Powerplay and another one a couple of overs after that, we would have been in big trouble. Evin is a perfect striker of the ball. I mean the man has got quick hands and he’s quick between the wickets. And then we got hitters like Krunal and Polly (Kieron Pollard) and Hardik (Pandya) at the end to finish it off.

He was happy that the team finally secured its first win. “We’ve got points on the table now. It’s one out of four (matches), but it’s better than none from four. I guess the main thing for us is that whether we win or lose, we always try and reset. We always go with the same preparation. We’re not going to go and have a party or anything like that just because we won one game. It’s about going back to the basics and doing the processes. That’s how you’ll get consistent and step out of that emotional roller-coaster.

Asked about his moustache, McClenaghan said, “Yeah, it’s good, isn’t it? My mother asked me to shave my beard, so I shaved my beard and left the moustache. Taking the advice literally so yeah, maybe, a little bit. (I’ve got a) bit of a baby face, although someone took a selfie with me today at the lift and they had one of those selfie-scanners and it came up as 14. So, yeah, I don’t know if it is the moustache or it picked just the moustache over the block,” he said.

McClenaghan now has 57 wickets in 42 Vivo IPL games. And the best thing is that he knows what it takes to win titles. Keep going, Mitch!

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