Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas made a winning Indian Premier League debut as Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Daredevils by three wickets.
The only England-qualified player in the Twenty20 tournament then returned from India to rejoin his county.
With the Royals likely to make the semi-finals, however, he will now try to negotiate a return to the IPL for the knockout stage in late May.
That will depend on whether Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove agrees.
The all-rounder went for 12 runs in his first over, but came back in his second spell to get the wickets of AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik in the same over.
Cricinfo's report said the player "completely justified his selection" after Mascarenhas took 2-29, limiting the opposition to 156-7.
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Mascarenhas batted at six and smashed spinner Virender Sehwag over long-off for a six, but was bowled by the off-spinner for nine when he missed a slower delivery which crashed into his middle stump.
However, his team were at that stage well on the way to a three-wicket victory, established with five balls remaining.
Under the shrewd captaincy of Shane Warne, the Royals top the league of eight teams, having won seven of their nine matches.
Chennai are second, and Punjab are third.
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