Kochi Tuskers crush Rajasthan by 8 wickets

Brad Hodge's all-round performance saw Kochi Tuskers thump Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday.

Kochi Tuskers first bowled out Rajasthan Royals for 97 in 18.3 overs with Hodge taking four wickets. They then raced to the target in just 7.2 overs with the help of seven sixes. Hodge top scored with 33 off 17 balls, slamming two sixes.

Brendon McCullum (29) and Parthiv Patel (21) also scored at a quick pace.

Rajasthan Royals, who made as many as six changes to the side, struggled with their batting. S.Sreesanth took two wickets at the top and Rajasthan Royals were reduced to 26 for three.

Shane Watson hit some lusty blows, smashing three sixes in his 13-ball 20, but could not carry the momentum. Left-hand seamer Prasanth Parameswaran (2-20) bowled Watson in the 9th. Watson and Ashok Menaria (31), who has been the most consistent batsman for Rajasthan Royals, put up 37 runs for the fourth wicket. But once the partnership was broken, the rest of the batting caved in.

With this loss, Rajasthan Royals are out of contention for the play-offs. They have 11 points from 13 matches. Kochi Tuskers have a slim chances of making the cut depending on how other top five teams perform. They are at sixth place with 12 points from 13 matches. Tuskers wil take on Chennai Super Kings in their last match.

SCOREBOARD

Rajasthan Royals:
Faiz Fazal lbw b Singh 16
Rahul Dravid c Shah b Sreesanth 1
Shane Watson b Parameswaran 20
Ajinkya Rahane lbw b Sreesanth 8
Ashok Menaria c Shah b Hodge 31
Pinal Shah c Gnaneswara Rao b Hodge 5
Jacob Oram b Hodge 0
Shane Warne b Hodge 2
Ankeet Chavan run out (Jadeja/Hodge) 1
Shaun Tait not out 10
Nayan Doshi c Jayawardene b Parameswaran 0
Extras (lb 1, w 2): 3
Total (all out; 18.3 overs): 97

Fall of wickets 1-18 (Fazal, 2.6 overs), 2-18 (Dravid, 3.1), 3-26 (Rahane, 5.2), 4-63 (Watson, 8.5), 5-68 (Shah, 9.4), 6-77 (Oram, 11.2), 7-81 (Warne, 13.1), 8-82 (Chavan, 13.5), 9-89 (Menaria, 15.2)

Bowling:
RP Singh 4-0-17-1
S Sreesanth 4-0-16-2
Prasanth Parameswaran 3.3-0-20-2
P Prasanth 1-0-18-0
Brad Hodge 4-0-13-4
Y Gnaneswara Rao 1-0-7-0
Ravindra Jadeja 1-0-5-0

Kochi Tuskers:
Brendon McCullum b Doshi 29
Mahela Jayawardene c Chavan b Oram 6
Parthiv Patel not out 21
Brad Hodge not out 33
Extras (lb 5, w 2, nb 2): 9
Total (two wickets; 7.2 overs) 98

Fall of wickets 1-26 (Jayawardene, 1.3 overs), 2-45 (McCullum, 3.1)

Bowling:
Shaun Tait 3-0-36-0
Jacob Oram 2-0-32-1
Nayan Doshi 1.2-0-15-1
Ankeet Chavan 1-0-10-0

Match details:
Toss: Kochi Tuskers Kerala, who chose to field
Umpires: Paul Reiffel (Australia) and Rod Tucker (Australia)
TV umpire: Sudhir Asnani(India)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka)