Cricket: Otago's winning streak snapped

Brendon McCullum was dismissed for a two-ball duck as Otago's 15-game Twenty20 winning streak was snapped. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Otago's 15-match unbeaten T20 run has come to an end, beaten by four wickets in a tight finish by Rajasthan Royals at the Champions League in Jaipur.

The New Zealand T20 champions must wait for the result of the final group A game between Mumbai Indians and Perth Scorchers early on Thursday to discover whether they have made the semifinals.

Mumbai, four points behind, must win by either 49 runs if batting first, or with 34 balls to spare if batting second to topple Otago out of second place in the group.

''We had our destiny in our hands and didn't grab it,'' Otago captain Brendon McCullum said.
Otago made 139 for seven, overcoming a dreadful
start in which they slumped to 21 for four, losing three wickets in one over by seamer Rahul Shukla, including national skipper McCullum second ball.

They recovered through the efforts of Ryan ten Doeschate, with a run-a-ball 26, 32 off 25 balls from in-form allrounder Jimmy Neesham and a couple of rapid late contributions from Ian Butler and Natham McCullum.

The Royals seemed well set for a comfortable win on the back of a classy half century from opener Ajinkya Rahane before Otago fought back.

The run rate rose to 10 an over at one point as Otago kept chipping wickets out. However Australian veteran Brad Hodge took the game away for the Royals, clobbering an unbeaten 52 off 23 balls, the win secured with five balls to spare.

'We showed our fighting qualities but the way Hodgy played at the end was pure brilliance,'' McCullum said.

Scores: Otago 139-7 (J. Neesham 32, N. McCullum 28 not out; R. ten Doeschate 26, I. Butler 25; R. Shukla 3-23) lost to Rajasthan Royals 142-6 (B. Hodge 52 not out, A. Rahane 52; Neesham 3-22, N. Wagner 2-33) by four wickets.