‘Brings so much calmness, composure’ – Faf du Plessis extols Josh Hazlewood following RCB’s win over LSG

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis lavished praise on pacer Josh Hazlewood following their 18-run win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a low-scoring contest. Notably, the pacer returned to action after four months since injuring his Achilles during the Sydney Test against South Africa in January.

Speaking about the match, RCB posted a meagre 126/9, with skipper Faf du Plessis top-scoring with 44 off 40. In response, a disciplined performance paid dividends as RCB trumped the home team to win the contest by 18 runs. 

Hazlewood had a brilliant comeback as he returned impressive figures of 2/15 in three overs, at an economy of 5. Delighted with his return, skipper du Plessis heaped praise on the pacer, stating that he adds ‘calmness and composure’ in the bowling attack.

“It’s great to have him (josh Hazlewood) back in the side. Someone like him brings so much calmness and composure to the bowling attack,” said du Plessis during the post-match presentation.

We said to the guys that we feel it’s a match-winning score: Faf du Plessis

Despite managing only 126 runs, skipper du Plessis and the management believed that it would suffice on a surface like Lucknow's, where the batters were unable to hit the ground running. The skipper further stated that the 62-run stand between him and Virat Kohli was the ‘match changing partnership’. 

“Chinnaswamy and this are two complete opposites. I thought we played really well in the first six overs batting first, I think it was a match changing partnership. I think batting first here was important. In my mind 135 was a really good score,” du Plessis added.

“Myself and DK (Dinesh Karthik) were saying 135 would be a really good score but once you come in on the pitch it gets very hard to score. Before we went on to the field (during chase), we said to the guys that we feel it’s a match-winning score because the nature of the wicket,” he concluded.