Rajasthan put off-field issues behind,beat Hyderabad in Eliminator

Sammy’s day out

This Eliminator seemed to be ending in a hurry. Next ball,the leg spinner pitched short again. Cue another semi-squat swivel-pull. Watson hit this one with even more venom,and it was still rising as it approached the boundary rope. Had anyone but the 6’5” Darren Sammy manned the deep midwicket rope,it would have been six. Instead,Sammy leaped as high as he could,arms upraised,and plucked the ball out of the air.

Over the next 20 balls,Rajasthan lost three more wickets for the addition of seven runs. Dishant Yagnik swung at and missed a Sammy off-cutter; Ajinkya Rahane popped Amit Mishra a simple return catch; Stuart Binny swung at and missed a Sammy off-cutter.

The next three overs brought Brad Hodge and Sanju Samson 16 runs. Rajasthan now needed 60 from 42 balls.

Enter,once more,Karan. Hodge and Samson took singles off his first two balls. The third was a googly. Hodge,who seemed to have spotted it out of his hand,swung it over long on for six. He swung the next two balls over the on side as well,for six and four. Eighteen had come off that over. Earlier,Ishant Sharma had conceded 31 in three overs. Between them,the two Sharmas had gone for 55 in five. Rajasthan now needed 42 from 36.

Samson took a single off the first ball of the next over. Hodge now faced Mishra. The bowler’s identity might have changed,but leg spin was still leg spin. Over long off it went this time. Six more.

When Dale Steyn began the next over,Rajasthan needed 34 from 30. The fifth ball of his over was fast and full and didn’t shatter the stumps only because Samson’s front pad was in the way.

Rajasthan scored 16 from the 17th and 18th overs,courtesy two cracking cover drives from James Faulkner,one off Thisara Perera and one off Steyn,and two wides down the leg side from Steyn. This left 15 to get from 12. After an over of off-cutters from Perera,it became 10 from six.

On came Sammy. At that point,39 overs into this 40-over game,he was a serious Man of the Match contender. When he had walked in to bat,Hyderabad were 55 for three in 11 overs. Everyone who had batted above him had struggled to hit the ball on a painfully slow track. Cameron White had looked scratchy,but muscled away the short ball whenever it came,in a 28-ball 31. Shikhar Dhawan,at the other end,was batting on 20 from 27 balls.

In Sammy’s time at the crease,Hyderabad scored 56 in 38 balls. Of that,he made 29 in 21,with three sixes. Later,his catch of Watson,and his tight line and clever changes of pace — his figures at that point read 3-0-15-2 — had turned the game Hyderabad’s way once more.

Hodge’s last laugh

Now,Sammy ran in again for his final over. Facing him was Hodge,who had kept Rajasthan in the chase almost single-handedly,and was now batting on 42 from 27. Sammy’s first ball was short. Hodge pulled it — with a swivel but not a semi-squat — and cleared the square leg fence comfortably. The next ball was full. Hodge swung cleanly through the line and sent the ball swooshing over long on. Rajasthan were through to the second Qualifier,and through to the Champions League T20.