Cricket-Hazlewoods Return Fuels Bengalurus IPL Title Dream | Mint

New Delhi, May 30 (Reuters) – Questions about the fitness of Josh Hazlewood were repeatedly set on the press conferences of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in front of their Indian Premier League play -off match and the Australian showed on Thursday why there was so much interest in his availability. After spending a month on the sidelines to recover from a shoulder injury, Hazlewood helped put Bengaluru on the scoring of a first IPL title with 3-21 numbers against Punjab Kings. The three times runner -up Bengaluru tied Punjab together for 101 and then chased the target in ten overs to book their place in Tuesday’s final. On a field that offered swinging and bounce, Hazlewood took the most important wickets of fellow Australian Josh Inglis and the rival, Shreyas Iyer, who never really recovered. “Of course, the bowling unit was back to the unit that bowled for most of the tournament, and we once again knew our roles well,” Hazlewood told reporters after their eight wickets victory. “There was a little seam movement, the bounce was probably a little inconsistent, so we used it as well as possible.” Hazlewood’s 21 wickets out of 11 games make him the third highest wicketkeeper this season behind Noor Ahmed, 24, and Prasidh Krishna, 23, who both played three games more than the Australian. On Mullanpur’s spicy wicket, a target of about 150 could be difficult, Hazlewood said. “They probably just had to pull back a little and try to get a score on the board, you know, 150-160 would have been a difficult chase,” he added. “But I think we made them bat just as well as they could, through our bowling.” The lively wicket also meant that Hazlewood did not have to push his body to the limit with his return from the injury. “Of course, the wicket helped, I don’t have to bowl yorkers or anything like that, so yes, it doesn’t feel too bad.” (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Peter Rutherford)