Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have began their title protection with a 6-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) within the season opener, thanks partly to a scintillating debut by New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy. The Kiwi completed his 4 overs with 3 essential wickets of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, whereas conceding simply 22 runs.
Whereas the Chinnaswamy Stadium had already discovered a brand new favourite in Duffy, who did extra than simply fill in for the yet-to-be cleared Josh HazlewoodRCB captain Rajat Patidar praised the New Zealand pacer for taking advantage of his alternative. Talking on the post-match press convention, Patidar emphasised that each he and the staff administration had full religion in Duffy’s T20 bowling credentials.
“As everyone knows, he’s a specialist T20 bowler,” mentioned Rajat Patidar, RCB captain, within the post-match press convention. “We have now quite a lot of confidence in him and that is why we now have given him the prospect. The best way he’s delivering and displaying his expertise, I believe that was super.”
HOW DUFFY STOLE THE SHOW IN RCB VS SRH
Duffy, who had endured a troublesome outing simply three weeks earlier than the IPL opener within the T20 World Cup remaining in opposition to India, the place he returned wicketless figures of 0 for 42 in three overs, selected to stay to his strengths.
“I simply tried to maintain issues pretty easy,” Duffy mentioned after receiving the Participant of the Match for his ferocious opening spell. “The plan was to make use of the brand new ball, particularly because it does a bit right here in Bengaluru. We spoke so much about lengths and what works on this floor.”
Whereas Duffy’s fiery debut was the story of the dayRCB’s bowling show in opposition to SRH additionally carries some credit score to Hazlewood himself. Duffy himself acknowledged the stature of the Australian tempo ace, who’s at present working his method again to full health after coping with a hamstring harm and Achilles points that dominated him out of the house Ashes and the current T20 World Cup.
“Josh Hazlewood had a extremely good season right here final yr, so it was about constructing on what he did properly and making an attempt to duplicate that in my very own method,” Duffy mentioned.
Regardless of not being accessible for choice, Hazlewood nonetheless performed a key function behind the scenes after linking up with the squad forward of the opener.
“The final observe session earlier than the sport, I believe Hazlewood spent quite a lot of time with the quick bowlers, and his inputs undoubtedly helped them (of their efficiency in opposition to SRH),” added Patidar throughout his press convention.
Duffy’s impactful spell, which included the important thing wickets of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy, ensured SRH by no means totally recovered from the early blows. His means to hit arduous lengths, extract bounce and modify shortly after being put below strain stood out, giving RCB not only a short-term substitute, however a real bowling choice even when Hazlewood returns.
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