NEW CHANDIGARH: Josh Hazlewood was walking back to fine-leg from his bowling mark, wiping his face, at the New PCA Stadium. The buzz in the stands was electric and understandably so. As Hazlewood took his position along the ropes, the scoreboard read: Punjab Kings: 59/5 in 8 overs vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru. And Hazlewood: 3-0-21-2.
This was his first match in over a month. Hazlewood had missed most of the second half and went back home to Australia with a shoulder injury. In fact, there were doubts on whether he was returning. He did not join the team until RCB’s last league game, which he did not play, against Lucknow Super Giants.
On Thursday, when he joined the other bowlers during the warm-up, it came as a big sigh of relief. This is Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League 2025 and a win would take them to their fourth final, their first one since 2016. This is the moment RCB needed him. This is also perhaps why they did not play him against LSG.
On a pitch that wore a shade of green and was heavily watered on the evening of the game, it did not take long for Hazlewood to show. When he came on to bowl in the fourth over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal had already set the tone. Priyansh Arya hit Dayal straight to cover, but there were signs of bounce and seam movement. A charging Prabhsimran Singh nicked Kumar's short-of-a-length delivery that climbed on the Punjab batter.
The biggest threat, however, was Shreyas Iyer. As the Punjab captain walked in, Hazlewood was handed the ball. First ball, on good length, worked for a single by Josh Inglis. Shreyas played and missed the first ball. The second one went for a couple of runs. Next one, again hit on good length outside off and Shreyas, in a desperate attempt to disrupt, went for the big shot. The ball, however, shaped and rose to take the outside edge. Hazlewood ran with his trademark celebration. No one could have stopped or contained Virat Kohli, who was running around, shouting and celebrating in every way he could. RCB were on a roll. By the time Hazlewood finished his spell, PBKS had lost half their side.
It was partly due to conditions and partly because of the lack of application by the Punjab batters. Because on Thursday night at New Chandigarh, every ball was an event. Every time the pacers pitched on length, the ball either seamed sideways or had a steep bounce. The tinge of green and moisture on the pitch, and the way lanky pacers of RCB and PBKS were exploiting it made for a spectacle. If someone had listened to the match on the radio, they would have mistaken it for a Test match with all the play and misses and the crowd reaction for it.
The moisture did not just help the pacers. Suyash Sharma came on after Hazlewood’s first spell and ran through the Punjab middle-order. Out of desperation, they even substituted Musheer Khan instead of a bowler, but that did not help. In what was perhaps the most important match Punjab have played since the 2014 final, their batters hit the self-destruct button. It was perhaps fitting that the innings came to an end with a stunning catch from Jitesh Sharma off Hazlewood.
The chase had its moments until Punjab pacers, especially Kyle Jamieson, were making the ball move. He even removed Kohli with such a delivery, but the target was never going to be out of reach. As much as PBKS would have liked to replicate what they did against Kolkata Knight Riders — registering the lowest successful defence — doing it again with everything that was at stake in a qualifier match against RCB seemed improbable.
As skipper Rajat Patidar hit the ball into the stands, RCB got home in exactly 10 overs. Phil Salt scored a fifty too, but it was their bowling line-up that stood up and raised the bar when it mattered the most. And that is why Royal Challengers Bengaluru have reached their fourth final in 18 years, putting them just one win away from fulfilling the eternal quest of winning the IPL.