Patel and Hazlewood lead RCB’s precise end bowling

KOLKATA: This was how the bowling of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was placed after the 12th over: Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj and Wanindu Hasaranga had two overs each, Glen Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed both had one and Harshal Patel four. Hasaranga and Siraj were going for 11 per over, Ahmed for nine and Maxwell for five. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) needed 82 from 48 balls but it was also imperative they got some pace to work with on a Pune pitch that was gripping a bit. RCB, on the other hand, were probably running the risk of conceding the edge if they continued with Ahmed and Hasaranga’s spin. RCB ultimately won by 13 runs but you could also say CSK were two hits and some from a win. Patel and Hazlewood made that happen.

In a format where teams are separated by the barest of margins, RCB captain Faf du Plessis took a judgment call after 12 overs: who were the bowlers least likely to leak easy runs? Hazlewood, with figures of 2-06-0 till then, was the best man to bowl the 18th and 20th overs or the 17th-19th combination. The other two had to be spinners: Maxwell and either Hasaranga or Ahmed. Hasaranga it was, probably because leg-breaks have a better chance of getting wickets. First ball of his over, Hasaranga dismissed Devon Conway—easily CSK’s best batter of the night—when he couldn’t clear Ahmed at deep backward square leg. But with a last-ball six, CSK were still managing to walk the tightrope with MS Dhoni in the middle. From

an equation of 56 from 30 balls, RCB’s win didn’t look 100% sure.

When Patel bowled his first over, he had conceded two boundaries off two contrasting lengths. But when he returned for the 16th over, he wasn’t bowling anything but good length or back of lenght. “I think in the first over, the slower balls I tried to bowl it into the wicket but it kind of floated onto the bat,” said Patel after the match. “I have been trying to improve my sequencing. I am glad I was able to come back. To both the lefthanders (Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja), I was asked to bowl wide outside off so that they hit to the larger side of the ground.”

Ali had hit the ground running, both with bat and ball. So when he hoicked Hasaranga’s final ball straight down the ground for six, CSK still looked good to chase down 173. But then Patel struck. Coming from around the wicket after the final strategic timeout, he bowled two consecutive dots to Ali before Jadeja returned on strike for the last delivery. Out came a wide, slower ball just back of the length that Jadeja was determined to slog but it turned into a speared heave that went down Virat Kohli’s throat.

Continuing with his assault from the other end, Ali went across Patel’s line to whack his slower delivery over deepsquare for a six. Next ball was again a slower but this time Patel pitched it wider and Ali’s luck finally ran out with a weak toe-end to Siraj at extra cover. The wide slower isn’t Patel’s only go-to ball though. “Till the time you have clarity when you are at the top of the mark, you should be fine. When people are waiting for the slower balls, my hard length balls and my yorkers are released,” he later said.

That slog-over intimidation isn’t a one-man job is evident from how Jasprit Bumrah has struggled without able support at Mumbai Indians. But Patel has Hazlewood. Perfecting his lengths in Test cricket, Hazlewood is now learning on the go, feeding off different scenarios in a heavy crash diet of T20 cricket since 2021. He hasn’t changed much though, just focused on small changes of lengths. And you don’t have to look beyond that 17th over to understand how it cranks up the pressure. Full on middle, back of a length, length, length, length and then a short ball—Hazlewood was all over Ali and Dhoni that over, conceding just five runs and paving the way for Patel to remove Ali eventually. The most prized scalp of course went to Hazlewood when Dhoni was caught at the deep trying to pull. Another length ball, another wicket, a dot most importantly. When you are up against Patel and Hazlewood you are basically making your own luck. For in a format where the turnover of the fast bowling breed is ridiculously high, they have persevered by practising the best of both worlds—Patel his slowers and yorkers and Hazlewood his Test lengths. Du Plessis used that to the best of his advantage in the slog overs.