Watson strikes, Lions lose de Kock

NEW DELHI: Shane Watson struck in the fourth over to end Quinton de Kock's challenge, giving Highveld Lions first jolt in their pursuit of 184 in the Champions League T20 clash at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday.

Points Table | Scorecard

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.

Share it Please

Tweet

Shweta Pandey

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation.