Josh Hazlewood on Saturday (December 19) produced the most economical five-wicket spell by an Australian in the last 75 years to bowl India out for their lowest Test total of 36 in the first Day-Night Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide.
After starting his spell on Day 3 of the Pink-ball game with a double-wicket maiden, the Australian speedster finished with 5/8 in five overs, dismissing Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Hanuma Vihari, and Ravichandran Ashwin to help the hosts bundle India out for 36 inside 23 overs with Mohammad Shami retiring hurt.
Later, Joe Burns’ half-century helped Australia to chase down the target of 90 easily as the hosts won the game by 8 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the ongoing four-match Test series against India.
After his team’s emphatic win over India, Hazlewood, who also joined the 200 Test wicket club with his sensational bowling figures of 5/8, said he is still pinching himself to believe his five-wicket haul while revealing he bowled more full deliveries and straight and it worked against the Indians.
He also admitted that he emulated “a little bit” style of bowling of the fast-bowling legend Glenn McGrath, one of the most successful fast bowlers in Test cricket, on Saturday.
Hazlewood said in the post-match presentation ceremony: “Still pinching myself (about how quickly the wickets fell). A little bit (smiles, asked if he emulated Glenn McGrath style of bowling today).”
He further added, “I try to do that every time I bowl to be honest. We bowled a little bit fuller and straighter and there you go... all out for 36, good result. Ready to go from ball one makes a lot of difference, can go wrong if you take two-three balls to warm up. That one boundary early on for the batsman can make a difference. The wicket quickened up definitely. We bowled a touch fuller, gave the ball air to swing, and got the results.”
The speedster also hopes that upcoming matches of the Test series would have more grass than what they saw in Adelaide, adding: “Hope for a bit more grass on (for the rest of the series). We have got a blueprint from this game as to how we should go about it. Red ball is another change.”
Hazlewood concluded, “We ticked a lot of boxes this game. The difference at certain times of the day with the pink ball. Tough to bat in night, during the day it's kind of soft for the bowlers. but this pitch had a bit more grass than the previous series. So we are still learning and evolving with the pink ball.”
