'Very rarely do you see him go for 50' - Aaron Finch's huge praise for Josh Hazlewood after clash vs LSG

Published - 16 Apr 2026, 16:53 IST | Updated - 16 Apr 2026, 17:09 IST

Aaron Finch heaped praise on Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Josh Hazlewood after his Player of the Match-winning performance against the Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday, April 15, at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Hazlewood bowled disciplined lines inside the power play and didn't allow the Lucknow batters to free their arms. He was rewarded for his consistency in the seventh over, as he dismissed the dangerous Nicholas Pooran. In his four-over spell, the Australian pacer gave away just 20 runs and picked up one wicket.

Finch said that no one gets surprised when Hazlewood does well, as cricket enthusiasts are used to his consistency and excellence. The former Australian skipper added that Hazlewood doesn't concede 50 runs in an IPL game too often.

"The most important thing is that every team that he has played for, whether it has been MI, CSK, where he has won a title, you know what you are going to get day in and day out. That's what you want as a captain. He'll run in and he'll bowl the same stuff day after day and get the results. No one is surprised any time he does well. Because you have to bat really well [against him]. Very rarely do you see him go for 50," Finch said during a discussion while explaining Hazlewood's impact as a seamer in the IPL.

Ambati Rayudu slammed the Lucknow batters, saying that Rishabh Pant and Co. didn't assess the conditions after being asked to bat first and instead, threw their bats at everything coming their way.

"Good teams assess the conditions really well when you are batting first. I didn't see anything of that sort happen in the Lucknow batting order. They were just going for everything. You knew that the ball was actually stopping in the pitch. It was bouncing a little more and just gripping a little bit. You know it's a 170 wicket. You need to play as if you are chasing 170 or 180," Rayudu said.

Lucknow were bowled out for 146 in 20 overs, with Mukul Choudhary top-scoring with a 28-ball 39. Rasikh Salam Dar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bagged four and three wickets, respectively. In reply, the defending champions romped home with five wickets and 29 balls to spare.