Birthday Special: Josh Hazlewood – Top 5 spells of the Australian speedster
Josh Hazlewood made his Test debut in the 2014 Brisbane Test against India, more than four years after his ODI debut in 2010. He ended up making a big impact with a 5-wicket haul and had Virat Kohli, fresh from his twin centuries in Adelaide, as his maiden Test wicket. It was just the start of Hazlewood’s phenomenon of line and length bowling. The right-arm pacer’s consistency is so good that he often ends up being compared to the legendary Glenn McGrath.
Here are the top five bowling spells of Josh Hazlewood in international cricket so far:
4/30 vs England, 2014 Melbourne T20I:
Hazlewood produced a crucial spell in the 2014 MCG T20I against England to seal a series win for Australia. The pacer came into the attack as the 2nd change bowler after Australia used three bowlers in three overs. He got the wickets of both openers, Alex Hales and Michael Lumb in his first two overs. Hazlewood completed a 4-wicket haul with a wicket off the last two balls of the innings to keep England down to 130/9. Australia won the game by 8 wickets and Hazlewood was named the player of the match.
5/8 vs India, 2020 Adelaide Test:
Australia were trying to make a comeback in the first game of the 4-match Test series at the Adelaide Oval after conceding a 53-run lead. India were 15/3 when Hazlewood entered the attack. He took the wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Ajinkya Rahane in his first over and kept troubling the Indian batters with a consistent line and length. The pacer ended up with record figures of 5-3-8-5 as India succumbed to their lowest Test total of 36 runs.
4/35 vs Pakistan, 2015 Adelaide ODI:
Hazlewood stepped up big time for the Australians to ensure no setbacks were caused in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan. In the match at the Adelaide Oval, the pacer registered figures of 10-1-35-4 to play a vital role in bundling out Pakistan to 213/10. He took the key wickets of Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood and Shahid Afridi in his Man of the Match effort.
3/26 vs England, 2020 Manchester ODI:
Hazlewood picked only three wickets in last year’s Manchester ODI but his bowling spell was quite impactful in the context of the game. Contributions from the bottom half of the batting line-up helped Australia finish on 294/9. Hazlewood’s opening spell saw the dismissals of Jason Roy and Joe Root before he dismissed Moeen Ali in the middle. He conceded only 26 runs in his 10 overs and bowled three maiden overs.
6/70 vs New Zealand, 2015 Adelaide Test:
Australia and New Zealand faced off in the first-ever Test match played under the lights in 2015 at the Adelaide Oval. Australia earned a slender lead of 22 runs but had lost the services of Mitchell Starc due to an injury. The pressure was high on Hazlewood to deliver as Australia was left with only two specialist pacers in the form of Josh and Peter Siddle. Hazlewood finished with analyses of 24.5-5-70-6 to script a historic win for Australia with a man of the match performance.
