Sawt Falasteen - Returning Hazlewood 'in good place' ahead of critical fortnight

The fast bowler finished with figures of 3-21 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru sealed their place in the IPL decider with an eight-wicket thrashing of Punjab Kings on Thursday.

The 34-year-old only recently rejoined Bengaluru after returning home due to a shoulder injury and following the stoppage in the league caused by the conflict between India and Pakistan.

He struck two key blows at Mullanpur including skipper Shreyas Iyer for two as Bengaluru bundled out Punjab for 101.

Hazlewood wrapped up the Punjab batting with his third strike in 14.1 overs.

With the WTC final at Lord's between Australia and South Africa starting on June 11, it was a perfect reminder of his prowess.

"I've got to be bowling. You know, wherever I am in the world I've got to be bowling, getting ready for that game anyway," Hazlewood said.

"There's no better place than I think out in the middle. Obviously you've got to bowl more hours of training from time to time to build up for a Test, but to get that intensity right up, there's no better place than the IPL."

He added: "I don't bowl too much differently in Test match cricket than tonight, so it's still that hard length, so I feel in a good place."

The restart of the IPL after a week-long stoppage and its revised schedule put it on a collision course with the international calendar.

Some foreign stars including Australia's Mitchell Starc did not return.

Others are missing from the playoffs, including Gujarat Titans' Jos Buttler, because of commitments with their countries.

South African players including Punjab's Marco Jansen also headed home ahead of the IPL playoffs to prepare for the WTC final.

But Hazlewood decided to be with Virat Kohli's Bengaluru and after his spell of 3.1 overs at a bowling-friendly pitch feels ready for a critical fortnight.

"Worked really hard the last few weeks on the shoulders to get back and got some good overs into it the last sort of 10 days," said Hazlewood.

"And yeah it is feeling good to be back."

Bengaluru, who are chasing their first IPL title, await their opponent in the final on June 3 at the world's biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.

"I think we've just got all bases covered," said Hazlewood.

"I think any one of the five or six bowlers can bowl at any moment of the game, whether it's the start, middle or end."

Q.Najjar--SF-PST