Volts get a Royal shock

Brad Hodge's 23-ball 52 helps Rajasthan beat Otago by four wickets

Brad Hodge smashed an unbeaten 23-ball 52, while Rahul Shukla picked up three crucial wickets to help Rajasthan Royals beat Otago Volts by four wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadiumu00a0yesterday.

Brad Hodge en route his unbeaten 52 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium yesterday

The hosts, needing 140 to win, chased the total with five balls to spare. The win also helped the Royals top their group with four wins. Ajinkya Rahane (52) was the other top scorer for the home side.

Earlier, riding on Shukla’s 3-23, Royals restricted Volts to a modest 139-7. The visitors were in deep trouble when they were reduced to 21-4 in the fifth over, but the lower middle-order led by Ryan ten Doeschate did extremely well to give the team a decent chance of a fightback.

Rahul Shukla celebrates a Otago Volts wicket yesterday

Doeschate hit 32 and put on 53 runs for the fifth wicket in the company of James Neesham who hit 32. Nathan McCullum (28 runs) and Ian Butler (25) were the other notable contributers.

Brief scores: Otago Volts 139-7 in 20 overs (James Neesham 32, Nathan McCullum 28*; Rahul Shukla 3-23) lost to Rajasthan Royals 142-6 in 19.1 overs (Brad Hodge 52*, Ajinkya Rahane 52; J Neesham 2-22)u00a0

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