New Zealand’s fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan shared his World Cup experience on 18th March after they beat their arch rivals from down under, Australia in their 2nd game of the Super 10. Their 1st win came against the Asia Cup champions India in the inaugural match of the tournament.
Both the games were different and required different types of cricketers, a plan that New Zealand got right. They played 3 spinners against India and favoured the pacers against the Aussies. Mitchell backed his captain’s thinking in a post-match interview, saying the team respected the skipper and stood behind his decision.

Mitchell spoke to the press after New Zealand won a cracker of a game against Australia: “Today it was all about that it was easier to score with the new ball and when we went fielding out, we had a pretty hard time and so it was a bit off. We got the benefit of Australia bowled on that wicket and thankfully we executed and the guys fielded exceptionally well too.”

In a tournament like the ICC World Twenty20, mind games matter and are as important as the one played on the field. Mitchell spoke about his team’s overall form: “Look, I think we’re just growing as a team and as we’re growing, our culture’s going to new levels. We’re confident of each other & confidence on our own game. We’ve got Matt Henry at home arguably being our best bowler this year and we must know that we’ve got a squad and the depth to trust each other. We’ve tested people out like that so it says a lot on how we’re going as New Zealand Cricket.”

He also mentioned that his captain, Kane Richardson, has got an incredible cricketing brain and that for him, the way Kane leads the team as a leader probably sends a message to the other teams. To have a captain that leads from the front and takes charge of the situation is crucial: “He’s got that much respect from the guys for the way he plays the game and again it’s the same kind of world with Brendon, the guys were following him and trusting him, so it’s been pretty seamless.”

With the next fixtures being Pakistan and Bangladesh, it’ll be interesting to see the way New Zealand deal with the other teams in the tournament and qualify for the next round.