Last Updated on 4 weeks by Charbel Coorey
Josh Hazlewood has sent another reminder of his all-format bowling prowess, delivering an incredible spell of 4/33 to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their first home win of IPL 2025.
Chasing 206 for victory, the desperate Rajasthan Royals (RR) made a flying start thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal’s whirlwind 19-ball 49. The left-hander may have fallen short of a fifth fifty in six games, but he set things up nicely for RR to get the job done.
However, as has been the story of their season, RR fell short in the key moments, and Hazlewood was the key architect. After Jaiswal smashed 26 off 10 Hazlewood deliveries, the pace bowler came back to crucially dismiss the RR opener to give RCB something to take out of a challenging powerplay.
But, RR remained in the ascendency until the second half of the innings. The game was in their hands at 110/2 off nine overs. Nitish Rana (28 off 22) and Riyan Parag (22 off 10) were looking in good touch. The heat was applied to RCB in the humid Bengaluru conditions, and it was on them to fight back to avoid a fourth-straight loss at home.
While Hazlewood rightly received many plaudits, the RCB spinners deserve a lot of credit. Krunal Pandya, often so good this season, struck with his first ball to dismiss Parag, who again left runs out there. Pandya, along with Suyash Sharma, combined for 2/62 off eight overs to leave RR needing 46 off the final four.
That’s where Hazlewood took over. The 17th over would help decide who which team would enter the final three overs as favourites. The seamer dismissed the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer and conceded just six. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s next over of 22 offset Hazlewood’s good work and swung the game back in RR’s favour, with the visitors needing just 18 off 12 for victory.
Hazlewood again. And he stepped it up a notch. He mixed up hard lengths with yorkers to perfection. His final over yielded just one run with two wickets, which left Yash Dayal 17 to defend in the 20th. He did so comfortably, sparking celebrations for a breakthrough RCB win at home and yet another RR defeat from a winning position.
Twitter Reactions – Josh Hazlewood 4/33 leads RCB to first home win of IPL 2025, RR criticised
Hazlewood’s 4/33 looks good on paper, but it’s even better when you consider he conceded just seven off his last 14 balls after the Jaiswal onslaught. His execution under pressure was worth every penny RCB forked out for him in the mega auction as he continues to deliver in all phases of an innings.
Hazlewood 4/33, RCB spinners lead team to vital victory
Rajasthan Royals slammed for yet another loss from a winning position
Amid the Hazlewood and RCB praise came criticism for the Royals. After losing winnable games already this season, RR did it again, falling short when they needed 18 off 12.
“We had probably eight and a half runs per over [needed] in the last 10-11 overs. I think we’ve got ourselves to blame, we didn’t show enough intent towards the spinners. We just could you have executed our batting a little bit better,” said captain Riyan Parag, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Earlier, RCB struck their highest total at home this season. Virat Kohli (70 off 42), Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 27) and Jitesh Sharma (20* off 10) were the main architects.
For a long while, 205/5 didn’t seem like it would be enough, but RCB’s stirring fightback, along with RR’s shortfalls, meant the hosts strengthened their position in the top four while RR’s season looks all but over.
