Hodge shines as Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad for Qualifier 2 berth

NEW DELHI: The last one week has been a nightmare for the Rajasthan Royals. With all the chatter around the three disgraced players charged of spot-fixing, no one would have blamed Rahul Dravid and his boys if they decided to throw in the towel, especially with the Sunrisers Hyderabad turning on the screws in the Eliminator at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Wednesday. But that was not to be the case, as Royals skipper Dravid marshalled his troops superbly to restrict Sunrisers to 132/7 after losing the toss and bowling first. Then, in a tense chase, it was Australian Brad Hodge (54; 29b, 2x4, 5x6) who provided much-needed balm over the Royals' wounds and ensured a four-wicket win to set up a date with Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2. If the Royals thought the chase would be an easy one, they were in for a rude shock. Sunrisers have made it a habit of defending small targets in this tournament and they didn't make the task any easier on Wednesday night. Punches were traded with equal intensity by both the sides but it was Royals who stood up to have the final say. Hodge, one of the finest T20 players in the world with over 5,000 runs in this format, displayed why he is a prized commodity even at 38 years of age. With the Royals gasping for breath at 57/5 in the 10th over, it was Hodge's blistering fifty that tilted the scales in Rajasthan's favour. The equation boiled down to 10 off the final over but Hodge landed the crushing blows with two massive sixes off Darren Sammy - one over mid-wicket and other over wide long-on. The turning point of the contest was the 14th over of the Royals innings, bowled by leggie Karan Sharma, which produced 18 runs as Hodge hammered two sixes and four to turn the tide. The contest had seemed to be heading the Sunrisers' way till then, with a pumped up Darren Sammy (2/27) leaving a dent in the Royals innings with a couple of wickets and a brilliant catch of Shane Watson on the mid-wicket boundary. Earlier, Himachal Pradesh seamer Vikramjeet Malik (2/14) justified his skipper's decision to play without a specialist spinner with two early strikes - Parthiv Patel (1) and Hanuma Vihari (1) - as Sunrisers slipped to 3 for 2 by the third over. Malik, playing in only his second match of the tournament, induced a leading edge from Parthiv in the opening over while Vihari only managed to mistime an intended pull shot to Kevon Cooper at mid-wicket. A charged-up Sammy (29; 21b, 3x6) tried to provide some impetus to the innings. The 16th over of the innings was the best one for the Sunrisers as a six each by Sammy and Thissara Perera produced 16 runs from the over. Dravid speak "It's been a pretty difficult week for us but to play a game like this and win was good. We didn't bat too well in that period between the 7th-10th over, but it's a young side and they will learn. Hodge put his hand up and got us through. Mumbai is a very good side, in some ways the pressure is on them. In many ways we have a moneyball team and will look to get going at Eden Gardens." On the ball, right away: Rajasthan Royals pacer Vikramjeet Malik gave away just two runs in the first over, besides dismissing Parthiv Patel. It was the best first over he has bowled in the league, in 10 outings. Faulkner fails to fire: Royals paceman James Faulkner had picked up two five-wicket hauls against Sunrisers this season. This time, however, he gave away 28 runs and picked up just one scalp. Dhawan in slow-mo: Shikhar Dhawan is one of the most attacking batsmen you will see in the league. On Wednesday, at the Kotla, though, his strike rate was just 84.61 - the slowest he has scored in an innings where he has faced more than 30 balls. No respite for White: Sunrisers skipper Cameron White hasn't had a great time against the Rajasthan Royals. In four innings against them, White has scored 42 runs.