Symonds century in vain as Royals beat Chargers …

Shane Warne cracked successive sixes off the last two balls of the innings as Rajasthan condemned Deccan to a third straight Indian Premier League defeat in a thrilling finish on Thursday.

The veteran Australian struck 22 from just nine balls to lead his side to a three-wicket win.

Symonds had earlier been at his belligerent best as he scored the fastest century in the IPL - from just 47 balls - on the way to an unbeaten 117.

He struck seven sixes and 11 fours in a lesson in explosive hitting as Deccan posted 214 for five.

Yusuf Pathan though then struck the fastest IPL half-century - from 21 balls - in his score of 61 and Graeme Smith plundered 71 to help Rajasthan to 217 for seven with one ball to spare.

Warney sixes :

Adam Gilchrist saw Deccan off to a fine start, sending the ball racing to the boundary three times in his first over.

VVS Laxman joined the party with a four flicked off his legs before racking up another straight down the ground.

Rajasthan captain Warne responded by bringing on Yusuf Pathan and his off-breaks worked a treat.

Gilchrist was superbly stumped by the quick-thinking Kamran Akmal for 13 as he looked to swipe Yusuf Pathan out of the park, while Afridi (10) became the spinner's next victim after he mis-timed a big hit and Ravindra Jadeja took the catch as the ball dropped out of the sky.

Symonds served notice of his intentions early on, cracking successive fours off Munaf Patel, the first a baseball-style slog past the despairing dive of Shane Watson and the second a sweetly-struck cover drive.

Laxman fell caught and bowled to Warne for 16, but the loss of his partner did not put Symonds off his stride.

He continued to blast the ball to all sections of the ground, launching a glorious maximum into the stands off Warne before sending the next ball whistling back past the head of his former Test team-mate for four.

Symonds was dropped on 75 by Pathan at point and he made his opponents pay as the boundaries continued to flow on the way to a second century in Twenty20 cricket.

Kamran looked to get Rajasthan on track from the off, clipping a six over square leg to follow a fine four through the covers before he was caught above his head by Sanjay Bangar off Chaminda Vaas for 12.

Yusuf Pathan though sought to give Symonds a run for his money in the big-hitting stakes and succeeded with a host of shots more suited to Yankee Stadium.

He launched a six high into the stands over cover and then cracked successive maximums high down the ground.

A flurry of late wickets - Mohammed Kaif, Smith, Jadeja and Salunke all going in the space of 10 balls - put Deccan back in the driving seat, but Warne produced a captain's performance at the death to lead his side home.

Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL

Deccan Chargers Innings
Gilchrist st Kamran Akmal b Pathan 13 9
Laxman c & b Warne 16 16
Afridi c Jadeja b Pathan 10 4
Symonds not out 117 53
Sharma c Salunkhe b Warne 36 30
Yadav c Kamran Akmal b Watson 16 9
Extras (w 5, nb 1) 6
Total 214 (5 wickets; 20 overs)

FoW: 1-22 (Gilchrist, 2.2 ov), 2-32 (Shahid Afridi, 2.6 ov), 3-75 (Laxman, 8.3 ov), 4-186 (Sharma, 17.6 ov), 5-214 (Yadav, 19.6 ov)

Bowling
Patel 4-0-55-0 (2w)
Watson 4-0-32-1 (2w)
Pathan 2-0-20-2
Singh 2-0-14-0
Trivedi 3-0-37-0 (1nb)
Warne 4-0-47-2 (1w)
Salunkhe 1-0-9-0

Rajasthan Royals Innings
Akmal c Bangar b Vaas 12 9
Smith c Kalyankrishna b Afridi 71 45
Pathan c Symonds b Kalyankrishna 61 28
Watson b Afridi 4 6
Kaif c Symonds b Afridi 34 16
Jadeja b Singh 1 3
Warne not out 22 9
Salunkhe run out (Laxman/Singh) 1 1
Singh not out 4 3
Extras (lb 4, w 2, nb 1) 7
Total 217 (7 wickets; 20 overs)

FoW: 1-14 (Kamran Akmal, 2.1 ov), 2-112 (Pathan, 9.3 ov), 3-126

Bowling
Vaas 4-0-42-1
Singh 4-0-44-1 (1nb, 1w)
Ojha 2-0-23-0
Kalyankrishna 3-0-30-1
Afridi 4-0-28-3 (1w)
Symonds 2.5-0-46-0