RCB vs RR: Josh Hazlewood back his strengths, helps Bengaluru end winless run at home with one extraordinary over

Rajasthan Royals just can’t seem to catch a break at the moment. For the third time in as many games, the Royals found themselves getting off to a flying start, and got to a position from where they could have waltzed their way across the finish line. And for the third consecutive time, they’ve somehow found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory .

The latest of those heartbreaks came in the 18th Indian Premier League (IPL) season came against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. While Virat Kohli (70) and Devdutt Padikkal’s (50) helped the Royal Challengers cross 200 for the first time at their home venue, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s blazing 49 off 19 deliveries as well as Dhruv Jurel’s knock of 47 off 34 balls had the Royals needing just 18 more to win from 12 balls with five wickets in hand.

One would consider that a cakewalk in the T20 format, especially with a set batter at the crease, with his partner teeing off with a four and a six almost right away after arriving at the centre.

And yet, all it took was one magical over for their chase to get derailed. After Delhi Capitals’ Mitchell Starc and Lucknow Super Giants’ Avesh Khan, it was Josh Hazlewood’s turn to turn the game on its head with some outstanding death bowling.

Hazlewood backs his strengths to deliver another stellar performance

Thursday’s performance at the Chinnaswamy wasn’t Hazlewood’s first match-winning performance this season; he had collected 2/22 in the season-opener at the Eden Gardens, which had helped RCB restrict Kolkata Knight Riders under 180. Nearly a week later, his haul of 3/21 would help the Royal Challengers finally break ‘Fortress Chepauk’ for the first time in 17 years.

And more recently, at the same venue where he produced his latest match-winning performance, it was Hazlewood’s 3/14 that briefly rekindled RCB’s hopes in a game where they were defending a modest 96-run target – albeit in a game that was reduced to 14 overs a side due to rain.

On Thursday, the ‘Bendemeer Bullet’ got a rough welcome in the powerplay with Jaiswal smacking him for a hat-trick of boundaries after as many dots in his first over. Hazlewood would concede more boundaries to the same batter in his second over in the form of two fours and a six, but would get his revenge in the end with a change of angle.

Going around the wicket, Hazlewood pitched a short one to Jaiswal, aiming for his throat. The southpaw went for the pull, only to spoon it straight to Romario Shepherd at midwicket.

The chase was a see-saw from thereon; while left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya had succeeded in slowing down Royals’ charge in the middle overs with some tidy bowling and getting rid of RR captain Riyan Parag and Nitish Rana, the Royals’ rampant charge in the first half of their chase meant the required rate wasn’t going to climb beyond their reach so long as they got boundaries from time to time.

By the time Hazlewood was brought back, RR needed 46 from 24, with Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer at the crease. And he made an instant impact at the start of his new spell, not by employing a variety of tricks that pacers tend to use in the shortest format but by bowling the hard lengths that make him such a formidable bowler to face, especially in the Test arena.

Bowling over-the-wicket to Hetymer, he cramped the West Indian for room with a slightly back-of-length delivery bowling along the stumps, resulting in a faint tickle off the inside edge with the left-handed batter attempting to whip it towards midwicket.

An extraordinary penultimate over

The pressure, however, was on Hazlewood when he came in to bowl the crucial penultimate over, his final one for the evening, for veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had leaked 22 in the previous over to reduce the equation to 18 off 12. And how does he respond?

By making a last-minute adjustment to the well-set Jurel, who had already shuffled to his left, looking to manufacture space for a big hit. Jurel tried steering a full, wide delivery in the end square of the wicket, appearing to deflect the ball towards the keeper off the ground.

Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma was the only one who thought it wasn’t a bump-ball, and that the batter had actually got an under-edge close to the ground for a clean catch to the keeper. Skipper Rajat Patidar backed his keeper’s instinct, and the team was ultimately rewarded with a prized wicket.

The Chinnaswamy crowd, which had witnessed their team lose all of their home games this season, had suddenly regained its voice, and would go electric when Hazlewood made it two-in-two in the very next delivery, cramping Jofra Archer for room with a quick, short-of-length delivery outside off, resulting in a leading edge towards cover for the simplest of catches.

The Aussie quick closed out his final over with back-to-back dots, signing off with a double-wicket over in which he conceded just one run. And what makes the over even more extraordinary is the circumstances under which it was bowled.

“First of all was sticking to your strengths. Knew the hard length was tough to hit on this wicket, mixing it up with the odd yorker, the slower balls and the order in which to bowl them was the way to go,” Hazlewood revealed after receiving the Player of the Match award.

“The bounce is quite steep here throughout the whole tournament, getting that score was phenomenal. I feel that was well-above par and the guys did a really great job,” he added.

Yash Dayal’s job had become all the more easy thanks to Hazlewood’s heroics in the 19th. If the left-arm pacer could stop MS Dhoni at this venue in a dramatic match against CSK with a spot in the playoffs at stake, defending 17 from the last over with Jurel gone would have seemed like a cakewak.

And with Dubey and Wanindu Hasaranga departing in the first three balls, the latter run-out while charging back for a second, the Royal Challengers had already sealed their victory with three balls still left to be bowled.