Chennai Super Kings (CSK) held Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to 134 runs in Sharjah, thanks to Josh Hazlewood’s bowling. They then successfully chased it down with two balls to spare.
Hazlewood, who chose to bowl first, struck immediately, dismissing in-form Jason Roy in the fourth over. Roy, who made his SRH debut with a superb knock, edged one to MS Dhoni at wicket-keeper.
Josh Hazlewood admits that getting the opener against Hyderabad so early placed the opposition under a lot of pressure.
“Getting Roy was a big wicket, and it was good to put the pressure back on them early. The wicket offered a little bit, it was on the slower side and a little low as well. We are happy we are applying whatever we are doing in the practice.” said Aussie pacer
Josh Hazlewood took two more wickets, Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad, to finish with 3/24 and hold Hyderabad to 134 runs. Dwayne Bravo, the veteran all-rounder, too contributed significantly, taking two wickets and conceding only 17 runs in four overs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
To start the ball going, CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Fad du Plessis contributed 75 runs for the first wicket. Despite the fact that Hyderabad took a couple of wickets in the cluster, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni remained composed to guide Chennai to victory.
Therefore, Josh Hazlewood, who missed the first leg, has been a welcome addition to CSK’s second-phase lineup. Sharing the changing room with some huge names, the star fast bowler admitted, has been a tremendous learning experience for him.
“I put in a lot of hard work and learned a lot every game. It’s hard to learn since there’s a different team every game, but it’s satisfying. It’s good to learn from DJ Bravo over the last few weeks too, and it’s been a great learning curve for me,” Josh Hazlewood concluded.
Read more: Royal Challengers Bangalore team reviews their Royal win in the Indian Premier League: IPL 21