Hyderabad, April 24: In Twenty20 cricket there seems to be no winning total. Deccan Chargers learnt this bitter truth to their discomfort as Rajasthan Royals scored a three-wicket victory with a ball to spare in a nail-biting finish at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Thursday.

After a double strike by Shahid Afridi had put the Chargers back in the game, Royals needed 17 runs in the final over with three wickets in hand. Pankaj Singh took a brace and a single off Andrew Symonds and then skipper Shane Warne did the rest with some clean hitting. He struck a straight four, then a six over midwicket and finished off the victory with a six over long off.

Desperate for a win, the raging bulls came out firing on all cylinders. Symonds led the onslaught with the fastest century of the tournament as he slaughtered the rival bowling. Symonds’ unbeaten 117 off just 53 balls with 11 fours and seven huge sixes helped Chargers reach a formidable 214/5.

But the visitors had other ideas as Yusuf Pathan, coming in after Kamran Akmal’s fall, launched a frontal attack on the home front. In a stunning assault, Pathan decimated the rivals with a 28-ball 61 which contained four boundaries and six huge hits over it. Pathan and Graeme Smith were involved in a 98-run partnership that came off just 44 balls and set the tone for the Royals reply.

Though Shane Watson fell cheaply, Smith and Mohammed Kaif kept the momentum going with a 60-run partnership. Kaif, who has struggled in the previous games, played some scintillating strokes to show that he is capable of turning on the heat.

Just as it looked as if the Royals were on their way to a win, Shahid Afridi struck a double blow by getting rid of Kaif and the tired looking Smith in the 18th over. He almost got the third but Kalyankrishna, who had held Smith, dropped a sitter by Ravindra Jadeja. R.P. Singh cleaned up Jadeja but Warne took the visitors to victory.

Earlier, Chargers skipper V.V.S. Laxman took the gamble of opening the innings with vice-captain Adam Gilchrist, who came out all guns blazing. The southpaw took upon himself to give the Chargers innings the much needed momentum as he toyed with Munaf Patel. Gilchrist hit the medium pacer for three fours to set the tone.

Royals captain Warne replaced Patel with off-spinner Pathan and the change turned the tide. Pathan had the dangerous Gilchrist stumped by an alert Akmal with his second ball.

In strode Afridi and took Pathan to the cleaners. But Afridi seemed in a tearing hurry and failed to time the fourth ball well. The resultant skier was well held by Jadeja at mid on.

In the matter of six balls, Royals were back in the game and Chargers were left rebuilding the innings. Symonds, however, made batting look easy as he struck the ball to all parts of the ground. With Laxman playing the sheet anchor to perfection, Chargers were on a roll. The duo added 43 for the third wicket off 33 balls before Warne spun his magic to get rid of the Chargers skipper. Bowling the ninth over, Warne tasted success when Laxman tried to drive him without moving his feet and gave the bowler the easiest of catches.