Apart from one dropped catch by Adam Vogues, Rajasthan Royals did no wrong as Shane Warne's pumped-up troops thumped defending champions Deccan Chargers by eight wickets on Friday.
Chasing 149, Rajasthan cruised home with more than four overs to spare. And it was Royals' main man Yusuf Pathan who sizzled again with a sensational 73 not out that came off just 34 balls.
The meager 149-run target was never going to be enough for Deccan after Royals got off to a flier in their chase. Naman Ojha (14) and Michael Lumb (45) added 55 runs off in 6.3 overs and then Pathan came to finish the game with his typical brutal innings.
Pathan smashed two fours and eight sixes as the Royals romped home in emphatic fashion and registered their third consecutive win that has now taken them to the third place in the points table. Only the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore are above the Royals.
Earlier, Shaun Tait's triple strike restricted the Chargers to their lowest score in the third edition of the IPL.
Adam Gilchrist's decision to bat at Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium immediately backfired as he holed out to youngster Sumit Narwal, who replaced Munaf Patel in the line-up, in the first over the game. VVS Laxman made little in his comeback match as he fell for 10.
Herschelle Gibbs looked he would lead the fight back before a moment a magic by the wily Warne sent back the South African for 25 that came off only 14 balls.
And when Andrew Symonds was run out for 22, Royals took complete control. The home side never let go of the Chargers through regular wickets.
But the total could have been a lot less had Vogues held on to a simple catch offered by Rohit Sharma.
Rohit with some sensible batting took the Chargers to a respectable total before Tait snared him one run short of a well-deserved half-century.
Tait ended with figures of three for 22 while Warne picked one for only 15 runs in his four overs.
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