Rajasthan Royals will meet Mumbai Indians in the 'IPL -2013 Qualifier 2', a battle to decide who meets Chennai Super Kings in the big final at the Eden Gardens this month. It was a result they can almost totally thanks to Hodge's 29-ball 54, inclusive of 5 sixes, two of which came off Darren Sammy last over with 10 run needed to win.
Chasing the 133 target they were set by Hyderabad, Royals were jolted as they lost 4 wickets for 7 runs in the face of some tight spin bowling by Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma. Captain Rahul Dravid was passed out after a brief counter-attack against Dale Steyn, and the slump in the center left Royals needing 60 off the last 7 overs, with Hodge and Sanju Samson in the middle.
Darren Sammy had earlier plucked an impossible, high catch at the boundary of Shane Watson (24) to turn the tide. Dishant Yagnik (0) played a horrible shot against the West Indian captain, and Mishra fooled Ajinkya Rahane (18) into a caught-and-bowled. But it turned out to be a false dawn for the Sunrisers as, for once; they failed to defend a 130-odd score.
Dhawan followed suit, hitting James Faulkner straight to short well leg chasing a successive boundary, and it was left to Sammy and Thisara Perera to swing crucial sixes as Hyderabad accrued 65 in the last 6 overs. Sammy 21-ball 29 ensured that Hyderabad breached their usually defensible score in the vicinity of 130.
Score Details
Sunrisers Hyderabad-132/7(20)
Highest Score
S Dhawan -33
D.Sammy-29
Best Bowling
V Malik-2(14)
Highest Score
S Dhawan -33
D.Sammy-29
Best Bowling
V Malik-2(14)
Rajasthan Royals-133/6(19.2)
B Hodge-54
Watson-24
Best Bowling
D Sammy-2(27)
Player of the match- B Hodge
