Warne dejected after loss

Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne admitted his team face a formidable task to secure a semi-final spot in the Indian Premier League following their defeat to the Deccan Chargers in Kimberley.

Warne turned in a rare lacklustre performance with the ball, conceding 36 runs from four overs as the Chargers finished 7-166 after electing to bat first.

That total looked unlikely for much of the innings until Dwayne Smith weighed in with a knock of 47 from 32 deliveries, clubbing four sixes along the way.

Part-time spinner Rohit Sharma then picked up three quick wickets, while left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas claimed two as the Royals were bowled out for 113 inside 20 overs.

With the loss, the Royals slipped out of the top four in the standings and now face a stiff battle in their quest for a last-four slot.

"We seem set to do things the hard way," Warne said. "We have our backs up against the wall, but it's a good sign for the character of our group."

"We've got three games and we have to bounce back and start doing the basics pretty well," Warne said.

The leg-spinner was baffled and disappointed by his team's performance against the Chargers.

"It was a really disappointing performance from us tonight," he said.

"I thought we played well for 15 overs, but credit to Dwayne for the way he played in those last five overs."

"The intensity wasn't there, we were outplayed and just didn't do the things we were meant to do for some reason."

"We will have a chat about it and work out those reasons, but we know we have to bounce back."

Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist was pleased with his team's display, especially Vaas, who was playing his first match in this year's competition.

"That score was pretty close to par. Maybe 10 or 15 more would have been nice," Gilchrist said.

"Dwayne played beautifully at the end to get us up to that score and the bowling was quite clinical, especially Chaminda coming back into the team for his first game this year."

"He was right on target and the pressure was on right from the word go."

Explosive opening batsman Herschelle Gibbs was dropped for a second match in a row, but Gilchrist said the Chargers had picked the right combination.

"We looked at the conditions here two days ago and tried to work out what the best combination was," he said.

"Herschelle missed out on the last couple of games, but he's spanking the ball well."

"We have some quality players who just can't get in to the starting line-up at the moment.

"Tonight, we got the combination right."