Jaipur: First Rahul Shukla rattled the rivals by taking three-wickets in an over and later Ajinkya Rahane and Brad Hodge scored half centuries to help Rajasthan Royals beat Otago Volts by four wickets to finish at top on Group A with 16 points in the Champion League Twenty20, here on Tuesday.

Batting first, Volts had a nightmare as Shukla took three wickets in an over reducing the rivals to to 20/3 in the fourth over. Shukla, who was included in place of Vikramjeet Malik, was called on to bowl fourth over of the innings and he removed Hamish Rutherford (11) with his first ball, skipper McCullum (0) with third and Derrek de Boorder (0) on fifth.

Watson added to their agony as he removed N Broom in the very next over with just one run added to their score. However, James Neesham (32) and Ryan ten Doeschate (26) added 53 runs for the fifth wicket and later Nathan McCullum (28) and Ian Butler (25) added some useful runs to add some respectability for their team's score.

Though Rajasthan were off to a good start as they added 49 runs in 6.4 overs before skipper Rahul Dravid was caught by McCculum off Beard, the hosts lost some quick wickets and were struggling at 72 for four. However, Hodge smashed his way to an unbeaten 52 off 23 balls to script the win. Hodge hit three sixes and five fours and completed his half-century.

Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane hit a measured 52 off 48 balls to stabilise the innings. Hodge and Rahane formed a 44-run stand for fifth wicket to repair the damage. After Rahane's departure, the veteran Australian single-handedly took the side to victory in an exciting finish.