BENGALURU: On most days of the week, the bowlers seem to be on borrowed time in the T20 format. Almost an irrelevance, unwilling participants to maximums and big scores on placid tracks in small grounds. The batters — right from a prodigious 15-year-old to former Test specialists — all saying one common theme. "They have come to watch us bat." Or something like that.
Every now and then, though, they fight back. Raging against the content machine of highlights reels where sixes are on an endless loop.
It's why days like Monday ought to be bottled and sold in the supermarkets.
For over 40 minutes in the capital from half-past seven, a Test match on a green seamer was casually played out. More Dunedin than Delhi. Josh Hazlewood could have been wearing his Australia whites. Bhuvneshwar Kumar could have been bowling with the red ball. The Delhi Capitals batters, who lost two wickets across 120 legitimate deliveries in their previous match, were 6/8 after 3.5 overs.
In a record-breaking encounter at the same venue against Punjab Kings, over 510 runs were scored. On Monday, the hosts, asked to bat first by Royal Challengers Bengaluru, made 75 in 16.3 overs.
Did the pitch have any demons? Not really, there was some movement on offer and that's all Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar needed. Even when the buzz word is variations or extreme pace, these two new-ball operators show immense value in bringing Test match lines and lengths to T20 cricket.
This kind of strategy, especially on surfaces where there's some shape, can earn maximal returns. Debutant Sahil Parakh lost his stumps thanks to a wicked delivery. It moved in late before cleaning out the stumps second ball of the match.
Hazlewood, who has the capacity to hurry the best of batters, found one to climb wickedly. It hurried to KL Rahul who had shaped to pull it. The end result was a miscued pull to the wicket-keeper.
One ball later, 2/2 had become 2/3. It was a classic Hazlewood Test match trick. Full, wide and inviting Sameer Rizvi to go for an expansive drive. Rizvi obliged but only ended up giving a catch to the keeper.
From the other end, Bhuvneshwar returned to remove both Tristan Stubbs and Axar Patel in the next over; both were outside edges to deliveries leaving the batter after pitching.
The first five wickets, though, were appetisers to the Michelin star dish that was the sixth wicket in a fever dream of a powerplay. Hazlewood, on for a third consecutive over, landed on his area of the pitch — back of a length. It pitched and did two things at one. It moved back in while also climbing up to Nitish Rana's midriff.
Rana, hands and bat in a different postcode, didn't know what to do and let the inevitable happen. The ball smashed into the gloves before ballooning up. Devdutt Padikkal completed the catch in the cordon.
On this night of nights, Hazlewood was going to have the last laugh. He got one to come in with the angle at just below 145 clicks. The yorker on middle breached Abhishek Porel's defences before smashing into the stumps.
As was expected, Bengaluru knocked off the target in just 6.3 overs with nine wickets in hand.
Brief scores: DC 75 in 16.3 ovs (Bhuvneshwar 3/5, Hazlewood 4/12) lost to RCB 77/1 in 6.3 ovs (Kohli 23 n.o, Padikkal 34 n.o).