Brad Hodge departs, Rajasthan Royals lose all hope in chase of 180 against Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2014

May 23, 2014

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Rajasthan Royals’ chase of 180 has found new life and hope in the form of Brad Hodge who got into the hitting mode, and was looking set to make a fight for this total before he lost his wicket. Rajasthan are currently placed at 131 for the loss of eight wickets at the end of the 18th over against Kings XI Punjab. Hodge hit Beuran Hendricks for 22 in the 17th over, but then lost his wicket to Akshar Patel in the next over.

Kevon Cooper then joined James Faulkner in the middle, but didn’t last long, as he fell to a magnificent diving catch by Shaun Marsh in the same over. Eight wickets down, Rajasthan will require something very special to turn the match around from here.

After building a strong partnership and looking to build on it, Rajasthan Royals were dealt a double whammy when Rishi Dhawan, in the ninth over, got the huge wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson off consecutive deliveries. Stuart Binny too didn’t last long. Then surprisingly, they sent Rahul Tewatia ahead of Brad Hodge. The ploy hasn’t worked so far. Then they lost the set Sanju Samson as he was completely outfoxed by leg-spinner Karanveer Singh. Karanveer and Dhawan have been the pick of the Punjab bowlers so far.

Earlier in the innings, after losing the early wicket of Karun Nair the opener, Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen looked to consolidate in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 game against Kings XI Punjab . Ajinkya Rahane looked to play himself in by taking singles and twos. Sanju Samson came into bat at No 3 position for Rajasthan. Lakshmipathy Balaji opened the bowling for Punjab and also took the wicket of Nair. It was Rahane who finally looked to up the ante by using his feet to smash Dhawan for a boundary down the ground.

It was Rishi Dhawan who opened the bowling with Balaji. Rajasthan are looking to win the game to qualify for playoffs. They are chasing down a target of 180 runs on the board.

Earlier, despite losing wickets at regular intervals against Punjab’s batsmen played with fearless courage during the early part of their innings. Rjasthan bowlers did make a fine comeback in the middle overs, but George Bailey and David Miller with their pyrotechnics in the end overs helped them to a score of 179 runs for the loss of four wickets on the board.

It was Virender Sehwag, who gave them a flying start by smashing Vikramjeet Malik’s medium pace bowling all over the park. He finally got out to the all-rounder James Faulkner‘s bowling caught by Malik. Manan Vohra took over from him by playing sparkling shots himself. The way he stood tall at the crease to smash Shane Watson with a flick shot between wide long on and deep mid-wicket region just gave a glimpse of his talent. He though was run out just when it seemed like he was about to get a big score. He was run out with him not even grounding the bat.

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