One of those moments, right? Australians rarely drop outfield catches. Maybe the lights at Dubai came in the way again. Maybe he just went at it with hard hands. Or maybe it was plain, dumb luck. Whichever way you look at it, the scorer’s log would have recorded it as “Kane Williamson, dropped on 21 by Josh Hazlewood in 10.4 overs”. How do you redeem yourself after that? Simple. Just do your job. And if there is one fast bowler who has been doing it consistently this year, it’s Hazlewood. Don’t go by the semi-final where he conceded 49 in four overs to Pakistan. Everyone is entitled to a bad day in office. Hazlewood’s came after an inordinately long streak of precision bowling on UAE pitches, fetching him 12 wickets and an economy of 7.93 for current champions Chennai Super Kings before returning 2/19, 0/26, 0/18, 2/8 and 4/39.
Hazlewood is an out and out Test bowler, building a career on owning the off stump and the line outside of it. Remember when India imploded for 36—their lowest ever Test score—at Adelaide? Hazlewood took 5/8 but more importantly, all five were caught behind. Wield that degree of control and you are already scary. But it also becomes too predictable in T20, Hazlewood thought. CSK coach Stephen Fleming and bowling consultant Eric Simons helped change that perception. “(We were) just chatting about batters probably expecting that, expecting you to change if you are hit for four or six,” said Hazlewood after bowling 15 dot balls in the match against South Africa in the first match of this World Cup. “Think the wickets are a little different here as well, but it’s about doing the same thing and make them hit fours and sixes off your good deliveries—just above the stumps, a hard length.”
Now that the line and length is taken care off to the extent he can bowl it in his sleep, Hazlewood also adds some variation. He normally starts bowling to his strengths—like in Sunday’s final—sticking to that stifling line at good pace. Too much pace and the ball flew off the bat, like when Martin Guptill almost hooked him fine before caressing him behind point. So Hazlewood dropped a few kilometres further up. Not too much. This was 131kph but was definitely slower, with Hazlewood rolling his fingers across the seam. It caught Daryl Mitchell—toast of the World Cup till now—by surprise and induced an edge to Matthew Wade behind the stumps. Hazlewood’s next over was a lesson in hitting the right length. Williamson—who went on to score the highest individual innings in a T20 World Cup final—was so cross with himself for conceding five dots that he went for an uncharacteristic heave just to not give Hazlewood a maiden. 3-0-11-1 and the job was almost done.
{{/usCountry}}Now that the line and length is taken care off to the extent he can bowl it in his sleep, Hazlewood also adds some variation. He normally starts bowling to his strengths—like in Sunday’s final—sticking to that stifling line at good pace. Too much pace and the ball flew off the bat, like when Martin Guptill almost hooked him fine before caressing him behind point. So Hazlewood dropped a few kilometres further up. Not too much. This was 131kph but was definitely slower, with Hazlewood rolling his fingers across the seam. It caught Daryl Mitchell—toast of the World Cup till now—by surprise and induced an edge to Matthew Wade behind the stumps. Hazlewood’s next over was a lesson in hitting the right length. Williamson—who went on to score the highest individual innings in a T20 World Cup final—was so cross with himself for conceding five dots that he went for an uncharacteristic heave just to not give Hazlewood a maiden. 3-0-11-1 and the job was almost done.
{{/usCountry}}But then Hazlewood dropped Williamson and he went berserk. Much had changed by the time Hazlewood came to bowl his final and the 18th over of the innings. First ball, with third man and fine leg up, Glenn Phillips tried a reverse-lap but failed to connect the slower ball. Phillips tried to clear midwicket and got caught the next delivery, conned by a knuckle ball. Williamson moved inside the line next ball to scoop him for a boundary but Hazlewood went wider to beat him with another slower—123kph this time—before unleashing another leg-cutter that Williamson was duped into hoicking. It didn’t get past Steve Smith at long-off. Five runs and two wickets in your last over is a nice way to set up a World Cup win, right?