Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood hailed RCB’s mammoth opening partnership between Virat Kohli and Phil Salt that set up the team’s win on the opening night of IPL 2025. Hazlewood feels that the first-wicket partnership set up the game for his team and almost killed KKR’s chances of coming back into the game.
Josh Hazlewood himself had a good game after a long-awaited return and finished with 2-22 in four overs. He further spoke about his fantastic opening spell where he also picked up the big wicket of Quinton de Kock.
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Josh Hazlewood credits Virat Kohli, and Phil Salt for RCB’s win
During the post-match press conference after RCB’s victory over KKR, Josh Hazlewood seemed satisfied with his team’s performance. He spoke about the influence of new players and feels that it is a fresh start for RCB.
“Yeah, I think that definitely, it’s a positive influence, fresh people, fresh mindset. You mention the last four losses to KKR but I don’t think anyone in the room would have known that because we gave about six caps before the game started. That’s like a fresh start almost,” Hazlewood told the reporters.
The 34-year-old pacer further heaped praises on the team’s opening wicket partnership between Phil Salt and Virat Kohli that set up the game for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Hazlewood feels that it was a much-needed start as it helped his team go far ahead in the game.
“It’s a new cycle in the IPL, but those fresh players – (Phil) Salt being one of those – played outstandingly tonight The opening partnership really set up the chase for us. It was not a huge score, but still a decent total, so to get us off to that start was crucial,” he added.
Josh Hazlewood on his plan to Quinton de Kock
Josh Hazlewood picked up the first wicket of the match in the form of the dangerous-looking Quinton de Kock. During the press conference, he opened up about his plan to the left-hander as he already had some experience bowling to him previously.
“I’ve bowled quite a lot to Quinton de Kock in all formats. He is a very dangerous player, so better to keep it simple and really tight. I know I went a little wide to him and he hit me for four,” mentioned Hazlewood.
“The plan was not trying to go too full or too short, really sticking to those hard lengths. If he makes something off that length for four or six, then that’s just a good shot. So yeah, sticking to my strengths, definitely,” he added.
Quinton de Kock was dismissed cheaply for just 4 runs as Hazlewood provided his team with a huge breakthrough in the first over of the match. De Kock had previously smashed Hazlewood for a four early in the over and was even dropped once.
However, Josh Hazlewood maintained his composure and used all his experience to snap up the big wicket. The fast bowler also picked up the wicket of Harshit Rana later in the innings to finish off with brilliant bowling figures.
Virat Kohli top scores for RCB
It was an excellent start by RCB as they dismantled the home team KKR comprehensively by 7 wickets with 3.4 overs remaining. Virat Kohli and Phil Salt put together a partnership of 95 runs in just 8.3 overs to set up the game.
While Salt was dismissed for a quickfire 56 off 31 balls, Kohli remained unbeaten till the end on 59 off 36 balls. Skipper Rajat Patidar played a fiery cameo of 34 off 16 balls and helped his team race to the target quickly.
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