Jaipur, May 26: It was time for farewells at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Monday night. A goodbye from a resilient city to their brave team. And what a send-off Shane Warne’s men received from a Jaipur that turned out to fill the stands to bid the Rajasthan Royals god-speed for the semi-finals in faraway Mumbai.

And what a pulsating end to their campaign at home it turned out to be. Held back in the middle overs and defending their perfect record at home, the Royals were pushed closer to the 146-run victory target by the young pair of Niraj Patel and Ravinder Jadeja.

The two displayed inhuman calm after seniors like Mohammed Kaif and Shane Watson had lost their cool in the face of the ever-rising asking rate, taking the issue down to the very last ball with Jadeja and Patel lifting a six apiece as the balls counted down.

Needing to defend 15 runs in his last over, and three from the very last, Dilhara Fernando bowled a wide and followed up with a misfield as Patel hit the last ball back straight at him.

The batsman crossed to tie the score and with Dwayne Smith hanging back, they went for broke.

A runout was still possible but Smith’s throw was wide, and that one error all but ended the Indians’ campaign in the IPL. It was Patel and Jadeja’s 49-ball 69-run stand that was the difference between the two sides in the end. The sequence in the last over, 1, 3, 6, 1, 1, wide and 2.

And by the way, this result also sent the Delhi Daredevils into the semi-finals with their 15 points. The Indians remain on 12 and have one game to go, against the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

For Indians’ skipper Sachin Tendulkar, it was yet another opportunity to have the last laugh over his old opponent, but this time it was Warne’s turn as the Royals squeezed home by five wickets off the very last ball of this pulsating encounter.

Tendulkar’s side came into this game well aware that defeat here would put them in the twilight zone ahead of the semis. They faltered with the bat and only a desperate final over from Shane Watson that gave away 25 runs to Yogesh Takawale lifted their total towards respectability on a deceptively slow pitch.

The Indians made good use of the Powerplay overs, seeing off Kamran Akmal (18) and pinch-hitter Yusuf Pathan (2). And when Dilhara Fernando removed the struggling Swapnil Asnodkar (17) first ball, it was good enough to give the Indians a sniff of a chance. But all that was to end in nothing as Fernando’s last over saw the Royals edge home.

Earlier, the Royals tied Indians down after Warne opted to field. Even Tendulkar (30, 34b, 2x4) and Sanath Jayasuriya (38, 37b, 4x4) were pegged back to 71 in the 11 overs they were together before the latter was taken in the deep by Pankaj Singh off Siddharth Trivedi.

Warne used Tanvir in two spells that virtually destroyed the Indians. The Pakistani left-arm seamer struck twice more to finish with 4/14.