Warne rips Chargers script

It all started in the 13th over of the chase,when Warne brought himself on to stem the bleeding. The leggie’s first over went for nine runs and gave no indication of what was to follow.

When he came on for his second over,Deccan needed 52 runs in 42 balls with seven wickets in hand and Rohit Sharma was well set on 40. Warne set Anirudh Singh up brilliantly with a couple of giant turners,before bowling the zipping slider to have him caught behind.

Warne’s compatriot and Rajasthan team mate Shane Watson did well to contain new batsman Dwayne Smith in the next over,giving away only five runs. With the pressure beginning to mount,Warne dismissed Smith,who top edged a regular leg-break down Aditya Dole’s throat at deep backward square-leg. The shift in momentum Rajasthan’s way and the change in the fielding side’s intensity was there for all to see.

Rohit upped the ante in the 17th over,unleashing an array of strokes to the ropes off Watson to bring up his half-century in this match and 1000 runs in the IPL. Deccan were once again back on top at the end of the over,requiring 23 runs from 18 balls with five wickets in hand. Warne,however,had one more over to go.

He dismissed Azhar Bilakhia off the first ball (137/6) before disfiguring Ryan Harris’s stumps off the third delivery (139/7) to finish with figures of 4/21. Without the ball in hand,Warne created a pressure-cooker scenario for the final over,where Deccan required six runs with three wickets in hand,including that of Rohit (batting on 71). A comedy of errors gave Rajasthan a team hat-trick — RP Singh out while trying to finish the match in one blow,a ball-watching Harmeet Singh run-out and Rohit caught off the penultimate ball for 73 as Warne’s side pulled off an unlikely miracle.

Earlier,the Royals seemed well on their way to a big total as Watson top-scored with a 36-ball 58. But a late collapse saw them fall at least 20 short of what they must have expected.

In the end though,150 proved more than enough — as it has for them in the past.