Josh Hazlewood: Perfect eight-on-eight in tournament finals, will ‘Hoff’ turn RCB’s dream to reality

AHMEDABAD: As Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) takes on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the final of Indian Premier League (IPL) at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, plenty will ride on their pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood, whose mere presence at the crease has been nothing short of a booster shot for an already capable pace attack.

Having featured in 11 matches for RCB so far, ‘Hoff’, as he is known to his teammates, has taken 21 wickets at an average of 15.80 and an economy rate of 8.30, with best figures of 4/33. He has been RCB’s top wicket taker this season and overall fourth. His ability to generate a big wicket during crunch situations has also earned him the nickname ‘Hazlegod’ from fans on social media.

With Hazlewood in the squad, comes years of franchise and international cricket experience and the much-talked about ‘Aussie mentality’ of win-at-all-costs.

The veteran pacer, known to be sharp with his line and lengths, has almost every title that matters in world cricket, right from the U19 World Cup to the 50-over World Cup to the IPL. An interesting fact that can make fans dream is that he has never lost a final of a major tournament. Wickets and victories have been a certainty when Hazlewood is here and there is evidence to back it.

Here is a snapshot of Hazlewood’s performances in tournament finals:

2010 U19 WC final: 4/30 against Pakistan in 8.4 overs, bundling out Pak for 82 in chase of 208. For this effort, he won the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Champions League T20 final in 2012: 3/22 in four overs for Sydney Sixers, bundling out Lions, a South African T20 team, for 121, which was chased down easily. His effort also included the scalp of future South African great Quinton de Kock.

2014 Sheffield Shield final: 6/50 in 22 overs versus West Australia for New South Wales (NSW). The match ended in a draw and NSW won thanks to their top-place finish in points table.

World Cup 2015 final: Rock-solid spell of 0/30 in eight overs. This is his only wicketless spell in a tournament final. Mitchell Starc’s iconic dismissal of skipper Brendon McCullum kept Aussies in the match from start as they made a lightwork of a below-par 183 by New Zealand.

BIg Bash League 2019-2020 final: He took 3/18 in three overs of a 12-over-a-side game for the Sixers, which reduced Melbourne Stars to 97/6 in a run-chase of 117.

IPL 2021 for CSK: Representing Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he took 2/29 in four overs, including wickets of Sunil Narine and Eoin Morgan which sunk KKR to 165/9 in chase of 193.

T20 WC 2021 final: Pitted against New Zealand, he took 3/16 in four overs, not allowing Kiwis to score massive as they could score just a competitive 172/4, powered by Kane Williamson’s 85. His wicket tally included scalps of Daryl Mitchell, Kane and Glenn Phillips. Aussies chased down the total with Mitchell Marsh and David Warner hitting fifties.

World Cup 2023 final: Hazlewood delivered a solid spell of 2/60 in 10 overs, which included wickets of Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav. A rampaging India slumped to 240 all-out which was chased down courtesy a Travis Head masterclass in front of a packed Narendra Modi stadium.
In these seven finals, Hazlewood has taken 23 wickets, with the best figures of 6/50.

While considering T20 tournament finals, he has registered 11 wickets in four games at an average of 7.72 and an economy rate of 5.66, with best figures of 3/16 in the T20 WC 2021 title clash.

Will Hazlewood add some more names to the list and increase his tally to power RCB to their biggest dream?

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Tim Seifert, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Blessing Muzarabani, Nuwan Thushara, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chikara, Abhinandan Singh

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash (ANI)