Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 25 : Royal Challengers Bengaluru pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood levelled former Mumbai Indians speedster Mitchell McClenaghan's record for fastest to 50 IPL wickets by pacers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history.
Hazlewood spoiled Rajasthan's attempts to end its losing streak with his sizzling four-wicket haul. While his compatriots Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal struggled to find consistency, Hazlewood hunted the Royals alone with his scorching pace.
The seasoned 34-year-old whiskered past the 50-wicket mark in the cash-rich league in 36 appearances, the same number McClenaghan needed to achieve the milestone, making them the joint-fourth highest.
South African quick Kagiso Rabada is the fastest to 50 IPL scalps, having accomplished the feat in 27 games, followed by Sri Lankan maestro Lasith Malinga (33) and Indian left-armer Khaleel Ahmed (35). During his memorable outing at the RCB's home den, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Hazlewood also crossed the 150 wicket mark in T20s.
During Rajasthan's pursuit of a daunting 206-run target, Hazlewood added his first to the wickets column on the penultimate delivery of the powerplay. The Australian seamer angled the ball into Yashasvi Jaiswal's body and lured him to balloon it to Romario Shepherd, stationed at deep midwicket.
He returned to the attack towards the climax and instantly made an impact by picking up a thick inside edge from Shimron Hetmyer's bat, which flew straight to Jitesh Sharma's gloves. Hazlewood had a mounting task ahead of him when he came to bowl the 19th over with the equation favouring Rajasthan.
Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey, who decimated Bhuvneshwar in the previous over, were licking their lips at the prospect of sealing the game for Rajasthan. But Hazlewood's pace blitz left them in tatters.
He conceded just a solitary run, removed Jurel and Jofra Archer on back-to-back deliveries, put the final nail in the coffin of Rajasthan's defeat and was adjudged the Player of the Match. Dayal had enough runs to defend in the final over as RCB celebrated its first home win following an 11-run triumph.
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