On Thursday, April 24, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 11 runs after appearing down and out at one point. Josh Hazlewood’s heroics towards the finish of the innings, however, helped RCB steal the win from the jaws of doom.
With five wickets remaining, Rajasthan was cruising as they chased a total of 206, needing just 18 runs from the final two overs. The momentum was entirely in Rajasthan’s favour after Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey had taken 22 runs off of Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 18th over. But by taking two straight wickets in the penultimate over and giving up only one run, Hazlewood put RCB in a dominant position all by himself. With just five runs from the last over, which was bowled by Yash Dayal, the home team achieved an unforgettable victory.
Following the game, Andy Flower, the head coach of the RCB, was unable to stop complimenting Hazlewood on his outstanding bowling performance. 26 runs were scored by the Australian speedster in his opening two overs. He recovered well, though, and finished with figures of 4/33 in four overs. Flower claimed that the difference was made by Hazlewood’s final two overs. In any version of the game, the former Zimbabwean hitter demonstrated his capacity to perform well under duress.
Since he took three wickets in his final two overs and they went for seven, I would most likely be referring to each of them. In my opinion, each of those overs demonstrated the man’s class. Flower stated following the Rajasthan Royals’ loss that “he is a world-class bowler, a class operator, great under pressure in any format of the game, thinks clearly, and has great skill.”
Flower believed that although Josh Hazlewood is known for his heavy-length bowling, he is capable of a wide range of deliveries and is aware of when to employ each one.
Although he is well-known for his heavy-length bowling, he also possesses excellent all-around abilities. It appears that he knows what kind of ball to bowl at the correct moment and mixes in those yorkers, wide yorkers, and slower balls. Being a part of a very potent three-pronged [pace] attack with a man like him by our side is fantastic,” Flower remarked.
Even though Yash Dayal and Bhuvneshwar were costly on Thursday, giving up runs at economy rates of 11.50 and 12.50, respectively, Flower pointed out that they have performed admirably this season.
“I thought Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] has been superb this season, and Yash [Dayal] was outstanding again today. That last over, I thought he showed outstanding skill and composure under pressure to repeatedly bowl yorkers like that. So I think those three quicks have been great for us so far this season. We’ve got some more work to do, obviously, to help us in this last third of the league matches, and Hazlewood certainly leads from the front in that regard,” Flower stated.
India
