CLT20 as it happened: Hodge powers Royals to four wicket win over Otago

[caption id=“attachment_1145717” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Dravid leads his team out. BCCI[/caption] Rajasthan 142-6 after 19.1 overs: He’s done it again! Once Butler’s low full-toss went crashing past the boundary line off Hodge’s bat, it seemed like there was no stopping him. He dealt a crushing blow with a four and despite Faulkner being dismissed in the 18th over, Hodge remained calm when it came to hitting the winning runs — and he did it with a perfectly timed four through the covers. Wicket! Rajasthan 116-5 after 17 overs - Rahane c Broom b Neesham 52 (48b, 7x4, 0x6): Neesham attempts a yorker, but it ends up as a low full-toss which Rahane can’t hit over the man at mid-off. Soft dismissal and the youngster walks back. At the other end though, Hodge has started dealing only in fours and sixes. He’s hit a six over third-man and the next one went so high that the fielder at long-on thought the better of attempting a catch. It crossed the boundary line anyway. Rajasthan 93-4 after 15 overs: He took it easy for a couple of overs but warm-up done, Hodge has started firing for Rajasthan. He slams a couple of fours in the 15th over — the first a well-worked shot and the second a lucky escape through fine-leg. Meanwhile, Rahane has reached his fifty in 44 balls (7x4). Wicket! Rajasthan 72-4 after 12.1 overs - Binny c B McCullum b Wagner 1 (2b, 0x4, 0x6): Tell you what, this is brilliant from Otago. Their bowlers have been given a small total to defend, and they’ve managed to take out four of Rajasthan’s best batsmen from the equation. Rahane (45) still in the middle and is now joined by the dangerous Brad Hodge. Wicket! Rajasthan 71-3 after 11.3 overs - Watson c de Boorder b Neesham 2 (9b, 0x4, 0x6): Excellent stuff from Neesham. His line has never wavered tonight and Watson jabs at a delivery, only for it to take an edge and fly to a diving Boorder behind the stumps. Wicket! Rajasthan 67-2 after 9.3 overs - Samson b Neesham 5 (8b, 1x4, 0x6): Boom! There’s another big wicket! Neesham was teasing him with that line in and around the offside and this time he does him in with the length. Samson tries to steer it towards third-man but it takes an inside edge and hits the stumps. Wicket! Rajasthan 49-1 after 6.4 overs - Dravid c NL McCullum b Beard 10 (17b, 0x4, 0x6): Slower delivery and Dravid wants to heave this one to the on-side. All he manages is a top edge which goes straight to point. Rajasthan 43-0 after six overs: Rajasthan need another 97 in 84 deliveries, which in T20 terms is pretty achievable. Otago have managed to stem the flow of runs though, with Neesham, Beard and McMillan all bowling a over each since the last update. Dravid is on 9 and Rahane on 26. Rajasthan 31-0 after three overs: What a fine start this is for Rajasthan. Two great stroke-players in the middle, and one of them — Rahane, has already whipped three fours. The latest cover simply stunning — pure timing. Rajasthan Royals need 140 runs to beat Otago Volts Otago 139-7 after 20 overs: Butler the only wicket to fall in the last two overs, as he gets an inside edge onto the stumps. But the fireworks he provided gave some confidence to the Otago side, who recovered very well in the last five overs to post a competitive total. At the death, it was Nathan McCullum who was particularly impressive with 28 (20b 3x4) — 12 of those runs came in the last over. Otago 120-6 after 18 overs: Butler’s absolutely smashing it! Otago need some quick runs and Butler chooses Kevon Cooper as his target, hitting him for two sixes and a four in the 17th over to give some momentum to his team. Wicket! ten Doeschate lbw b Tambe 26 (27b 3x4 0x6) - Otago 89-6 after 15 overs: So Tambe has his wicket, and removes the settled Doeschate from the middle. This one doesn’t turn at all, in fact it straightens into the batsman and that’s gone. Wicket! Neesham c Watson b Cooper 32 (25b, 4x4, 1x6) - Otago 74-5 after 12.2 overs: This time there’s absolutely no doubt as Neesham skies Cooper towards long on and Shane Watson is usually a safe pair of hands. Otago 50-4 after 10 overs: Praveen Tambe has been introduced into the attack and gets past his first over in a few seconds. Okay, it was not that quick but boy does he quickly get through his six deliveries — low, flat and very hard to judge, he gives away just two runs. Otago 32-4 after seven overs: Only the umpire knows what just happened there. Cooper’s delivery cuts in, and it clearly looks and sounds as if there was a huge inside edge before Samson took the catch — umpire’s unfazed though. Just shakes his head. Wicket! Broom c Samson b Watson 11 (15b, 2x4, 0x6) - Otago 21-4 after 5 overs: My my this is turning into a one-sided affair. Broom, who looked like the only batsman who could score runs out there has scooped on into the air and a confident Sanju Samson is waiting underneath — and makes no mistake. Wickets! Otago 20-3 after 4 overs Rutherford b Shukla 5 (7b, 1x4, 0x6) McCullum lbw b Shukla 0 (2b, 0x4, 0x6) de Boorder c & b Shukla 0 (2b, 0x4, 0x6) What an over that is! Stunning stuff from Shukla as he takes three quality wickets. And these are not batsmen’s mistakes, but really good bowling. The first delivery uproots Rutherford’s stumps, the second catches McCullum plumb in front of the stumps trying to steer it towards mid-on and the third goes high before Shukla himself takes it. Otago 10-0 after two overs: A four from each batsman, both coming on the offside and both coming in Menaria’s first over — set Otago on their way. The second over was much better — in fact, it was top-class and only one run came off it. Well done Faulkner. Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and will bowl first Toss will take place at 7.30 PM IST Rajasthan Royals squad (from): R Dravid, S Binny, K Cooper, J Faulkner, B Hodge, V Malik, A Menaria, A Rahane, S Samson, R Shukla, S Tait, P Tambe, S Watson, D Yagnik Otago squad (from): B McCullum, N Beard, M Bracewell, N Broom, I Butler, M Craig, D de Boorder, J Duffy, N McCullum, J McMillan, J Neesham, A Redmond, H Rutherford, R ten Doeschate, N Wagner, S Wells