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Jaipur: A fiery cameo by Brad Hodge and brilliant bowling by Pravin Tambe helped Rajasthan Royals thrash Highveld Lions by 30 runs in the CLT20 tie in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Tambe finished with a brilliant figure of 4/15 to restrict Lions to just 153/8 after Hodge's 23-ball-46 in death overs guided hosts to 183/5.
After a steady fourth wicket stand between Hardus Viljoen and Alvior Petersen that gave some hope to the Lions following early blows, the visitors stumbled again, giving Rajasthan total control.
Viljoen (24) was the fourth man to fall after a sharing 53-run partnership Petersen. He was soon joined by Jean Sumes and Sohail Tanvir in the dressing room.
After Shane Watson gave Royals first breakthrough by scalping Quinton de Kock at the score of 25, Vikramjeet Malik dealt Lions double-blow and reduced the visitors to 36/3.
Malik first got Van der Dussen caught by skipper Rahul Dravid and then sent back T Bavuma without allowing him to get off the mark.
A fiery knock by Brad Hodge in death overs after decent contribution from the middle order powered Rajasthan Royals to a massive 183/5.
T20 freelancer Brad Hodge showed why he is sought after in the shortest format as he blasted his way to 23-ball-46 which included six fours and two sixes. He got 20 out off the 21 runs that came off the final over of the innings bowled by Pakistani left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir.
All-rounder Stuart Binny played a nice cameo smashing 38 off only 20 balls while experienced Shane Watson (33, 24 balls, 4x4, 2x6) and veteran skipper Rahul Dravid (31, 30 balls, 5x4) also made useful contributions.
While Royals managed only 69 in the front 10, the back-10 proved to be far more profitable with a whopping 114 runs coming off it.
The 13th over of the Royals innings proved to be 'lucky' for the home team as Watson and Binny slammed left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso to all corners scoring 22 runs from that over which included two huge sixes hit over long-on and long-off by the Aussie all-rounder. That was when the Royals finally managed to break the shackles as an even 100 was scored off the last eight overs.
The duo added 43 runs in only 4 overs after which Watson mistimed a straight hit which was taken at long-on off Tsotsobe's bowling. After Watson's departure Binny continued to find the gaps adding another 35 runs in 3.2 overs before he was castled Pretorious. The Karnataka all-rounder hit five fours and a six during his innings.
Put into bat, Ajinkya Rahane (5) didn't enjoy a good outing as he lofted Sohail Tanvir but didn't get enough power as the skier was well taken by a diving Hardus Viljoen stationed at mid-off.
Last match's hero Sanju Samson (12) edged one to Thami Tsolekile behind the stumps of South African ODI specialist Lonwabo Tsotsobe's bowling.
Royals skipper Dravid looked in good touch during his knock of 31 which contained as many as five boundaries. A couple of cover drives off Tsotsobe were a treat for the eyes while a pull of Viljoen was vintage stuff.
Earlier, Highveld Lions have won the toss and they invites Rajasthan Royals to bat.
Teams:
Lions: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Alviro Petersen (capt.), Thami Tsolekile, Temba Bavuma, Jean Symes, Dwaine Pretorius, Sohail Tanvir, Hardus Viljoen, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Rajasthan: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson (wk), Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Ashok Menaria, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Vikramjeet Malik, Pravin Tambe
Brief scores
Rajasthan Royals 183 for 5 (Hodge 46*, Binny 38)
Lions 153 for 9 (Petersen 40, Tambe 4-15)
Result Rajasthan Royals won by 30 runs
Points Rajasthan Royals 4, Lions 0
