Mumbai's drops, and Simmons' stunner
Plays of the day from the match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium
Andrew Fidel Fernando
10-May-2015
AB de Villiers had begun his innings with five dot balls against Lasith Malinga • PTI
The suppressed rage
Mitchell McClenaghan has spent much of the past year in a New Zealand side whose athleticism verges on the super human. The drop in fielding standards at the Mumbai Indians was clearly difficult for him to take, especially when the errors came off his own bowling. He fumed when on the second ball of his second over, Lasith Malinga let the ball go through him at fine leg to concede a boundary, but Rohit Sharma's drop off Chris Gayle two balls later was ineptness that seemed to tear at the fabric of McClenaghan's soul. Upon seeing Rohit spill the high chance, somewhat comically, McClenaghan sank to one knee in silence, no words coming from his mouth, just a pained hollowness in his expression suggesting he had been deeply traumatised.
Mitchell McClenaghan has spent much of the past year in a New Zealand side whose athleticism verges on the super human. The drop in fielding standards at the Mumbai Indians was clearly difficult for him to take, especially when the errors came off his own bowling. He fumed when on the second ball of his second over, Lasith Malinga let the ball go through him at fine leg to concede a boundary, but Rohit Sharma's drop off Chris Gayle two balls later was ineptness that seemed to tear at the fabric of McClenaghan's soul. Upon seeing Rohit spill the high chance, somewhat comically, McClenaghan sank to one knee in silence, no words coming from his mouth, just a pained hollowness in his expression suggesting he had been deeply traumatised.
The spray
No emotions were suppressed next ball, though. Gayle and Virat Kohli crossed during Rohit's drop, and when Harbhajan Singh spilt a straightforward chance off Kohli in the slips, McClenaghan snapped completely. Hands turned upwards in desperation, McClenaghan ran forward in his follow-through, then broke into a stream of screamed expletives at Harjbhajan, the highlight of which was the string of saliva that flew clean out of his mouth, landing at least two feet in front of him.
No emotions were suppressed next ball, though. Gayle and Virat Kohli crossed during Rohit's drop, and when Harbhajan Singh spilt a straightforward chance off Kohli in the slips, McClenaghan snapped completely. Hands turned upwards in desperation, McClenaghan ran forward in his follow-through, then broke into a stream of screamed expletives at Harjbhajan, the highlight of which was the string of saliva that flew clean out of his mouth, landing at least two feet in front of him.
The catch
McClenaghan might be forgiven for thinking his team-mates were playing a prank on him because, immediately after that over of shambolic fielding concluded, Llendl Simmons pulled off one of the catches of the season to send Gayle packing. The batsman got an outside edge to a Lasith Malinga slower ball, and Simmons threw himself high and to his left, reaching out in a full stretch to complete the catch with both hands in mid-air.
McClenaghan might be forgiven for thinking his team-mates were playing a prank on him because, immediately after that over of shambolic fielding concluded, Llendl Simmons pulled off one of the catches of the season to send Gayle packing. The batsman got an outside edge to a Lasith Malinga slower ball, and Simmons threw himself high and to his left, reaching out in a full stretch to complete the catch with both hands in mid-air.
The shot
AB de Villiers had begun his innings with five dot balls against Malinga, but was in full flow when the bowler came back to deliver the penultimate over. Malinga had had his yorkers humming nicely in the last few matches, yet when he delivered a ball that would have struck de Villiers on the toe, the batsman still found a way to get it away for four. On one knee to play the sweep, de Villiers got bat to ball centimetres before it hit the turf and sent it screaming behind square leg, proving that in this kind of touch, almost nothing can be done to keep de Villiers quiet.
AB de Villiers had begun his innings with five dot balls against Malinga, but was in full flow when the bowler came back to deliver the penultimate over. Malinga had had his yorkers humming nicely in the last few matches, yet when he delivered a ball that would have struck de Villiers on the toe, the batsman still found a way to get it away for four. On one knee to play the sweep, de Villiers got bat to ball centimetres before it hit the turf and sent it screaming behind square leg, proving that in this kind of touch, almost nothing can be done to keep de Villiers quiet.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando