Lucknow: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fast bowler Josh Hazlewood expressed satisfaction on returning to action after being on the sidelines for a few months due to injury and said that his impressive comeback marked progress towards a bigger goal.
Hazelwood sustained an Achilles injury during a Test match in Sydney in January and has since not featured in any format of the game.
The Australian was initially selected for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India but was headed back home midway through the series to continue his rehabilitation from an Achilles complaint.
The pacer returned to the bowling crease for his IPL side RCB for their match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Monday. He bowled three excellent overs to see the visitors win by 18 runs despite posting just 126/9.
Bowling in the power play before returning at the death Hazlewood took 2/15 as LSG were bowled out for 108, 18 runs short of the target.
“The body’s feeling pretty good. It was nice to have a hit out in the middle. It’s just so different playing in a game compared to training. The Achilles is feeling pretty good. Obviously only bowled three overs and fielded the 20, so tonight was a little stepping stone further down the track,” Hazlewood said in a post-match press conference.
Hazlewood further stated that the initial wicket by Mohammed Siraj helped to swing the momentum in their favor, which was then further capitalized on by the other bowlers adding that the nature of the pitch kept RCB in the game.
“It started in Siraj’s first over. I think a wicket and one run offered. It was a great start and we sort of jumped on the back of that. I think at half-time we knew we were still in the game; it was a tough wicket to bat on.
“We knew that we had to bowl them out to win the game. If they had seven-eight batters bat the 20 overs, they were going to get 130 runs. It was all about attacking and taking wickets. It was a great combined effort from every bowler,” the Australian said.
Defending the low score, Siraj sent back Kyle Mayers for a duck in the first over. LSG failed to recover from the early blow as they suffered a collapse and were bowled out for 108.
IANS