09 May 2008 - Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur : It was déjà vu, but this time at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Rajasthan Royals took on Deccan Chargers for the second time in the tournament and the result was the same – a ‘Royals’ victory! The eight-wicket win puts Royals on top of the league standings. 

Warne won the toss and as he usually does, put the opposition into bat. Warne was wary of the destructive the Deccan Chargers batting line up before the start of the match. The decision to bowl first seemed to have gone wrong as stand-in captain Gilchrist and Gibbs got off to an explosive start, raising their fifty in the seventh over. Gilchrist was particularly aggressive as he took on both the in-form opening bowlers – Tanvir and Watson. 

Royals finally got the much needed break through when Munaf had Gibbs caught behind when the score was 61 at the end of the eight over. The stage seemed to have been set for a massive onslaught with Gilchrist reaching his fifty from 37 balls. But Warne’s introduction of himself and Trivedi dried the runs for the Chargers. This lead to further downfall for the Deccan Chargers as wickets fell in a heap from the thirteenth over.

Warne and Trivedi had their strangle hold as the Chargers slumped from 88/1 to 105/6. Warne lead from the front picking up two wickets and affecting a brilliant run-out via a direct throw to see the back of the dangerous Rohit Sharma. Venugopal added some impetus towards the end to set the home team a target of 140 in their 20 overs.

Warne has impressed everyone with his quick thinking and changes right through the series. In a bizarre turn around, Warne decided to rest in the in-form Asnodkar and open the innings with Pathan and Smith. The thinking and move paid rich dividends as Pathan blasted the Deccan Chargers attack to all corners of the ground. Pathan smashed another fifty against the Chargers attack, to which he seems to have taken a liking. Pathan’s 68 off 37, which included two sixes, ensured that the Royals record their second win against the Deccan Chargers. The innings and a wicket fetched Pathan another man-of-the-match award against the Chargers.

Pathan was ably supported by his opening partner, Smith, who played a relatively quiet innings. The duo shared a century stand for the first wicket, before Pathan fell to Ojha. Warne promoted Kaif, who looked good in his short innings. Unfortunately, Smith fell just before the Royals were wrapping the game. Watson and Kaif then reached the target with four overs and eight wickets to spare.

With this, the Rajasthan Royals recorded their sixth win of the tournament out of the eight matches they have played so far.