The four-wicket win helped the Royals maintain an all-win record in the league and also gave them the advantage of playing their semifinal at home.
Needing a modest 140 for a win, Royals stuttered for a while before Hodge lifted them with a breezy cameo. The Aussie clubbed five fours and three sixes to take Royals home.
Earlier, Rahul Shukla sizzled with the ball for the hosts. Riding on his 3-23 , the Royals restricted Otago Volts to 139-7 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Despite putting up a commendable performance against the Mumbai Indians in the opener, Shukla had to sit out for the last few games. On Tuesday, the pacer from Jharkhand, who was replacing Vikramjeet Malik, made amends by packing off the Volts top-order. The pacer picked up three wickets in his very first over.
After the top-order collapse, a 39-run partnership between Nathan McCullum and Ian Butler took the Volts to a decent total. In the end, the younger McCullum remained unbeaten on 28.
It certainly was a good toss to win for captain Rahul Dravid. Aware of the fact that a slip-up here would cost them the home advantage in the semifinals, Dravid brought in young Shukla to add more depth to the bowling attack. The move worked.
Shukla began by cleaning up Rutherford on the first ball of his opening over for five.
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