Rajasthan Royals in Semi Spot

Rajasthan Royals achieved the modest target of 133 runs at the loss of six wickets with four balls to spare against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The men in blue have set their appointment with Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier with an emphatic win over Sunrisers Hyerabad tonight. Hodge and Faulkner celebrate wildly, so does the entire camp. Rahul Dravid is thrilled to bits. Rajasthan become the third team to qualify for the Champions League. Hodge adds more misery to Sammy by mocking his pacifier style of dancing. He has turned this match around completely. Rajasthan started well with Dravid and Watson looking confident. A major collapse in the middle threatened to derail their campaign, but Hodge had other ideas. he smoked the bowling to all parts of the ground, and it was fitting that he hit the winning runs.

A word of consolation for Hyderabad. As debutants, they put up a superb show all the way through despite their batting failing a number of times. They probably had the best bowling line-up around, one that almost took them through today as well if not for Hodge. Sammy has been the charismatic figure in this team, and sadly for him, he ends up as the villian in the piece, having failed to defend 10 runs from the last over. He is down in the dug-out and looks disconsolate.