Jaipur: Binoculars in hand, 16-year-old Pooja came all the way from Jodhpur to get a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Thursday. The Bollywood Badshah didn’t turn up but Pooja wasn’t too disappointed in the end.

“We are a group of 15 schoolchildren who came here mainly to see King Khan,” Pooja said. “Initially, we were disheartened as we couldn’t spot him in the stands but slowly we got engrossed in cricket. I am now returning home as a big fan of Shane Warne.”

Pooja was no exception. Though the majority in the capacity crowd was waiting for Shah Rukh Khan and was on their feet every time there were some movements in the VIP stands, eventually they all turned to the spin king Warne.

After the match got over, Warne received a standing ovation from the crowd for leading Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic 45-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders — their fourth win in a row. From underdogs, the Jaipur team have suddenly become the favourites.

“We knew Knight Riders were a solid side and expected them to come hard in this match,” said Warne later. “But we were aware of our strength and kept faith on our youngsters like Ravindra Jadeja, Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan.”

Asnodkar was the pick of the lot with a smashing 34-ball 60 that was studded with 10 four and one six. With Yusuf (55 in 33 deliveries) also matching the Goan’s aggression, the locals were in the driver’s seat from the very beginning.

“Given a chance, I knew Swapnil would live up to expectation,” said Warne. “I worked hard with him for the past few days and got the result.”

It wasn’t the case for Knight Riders, who suffered their third defeat in a row. If their bowlers were mediocre, batsmen looked out of place. Chasing 196, they fared miserably.

“Rajasthan Royals’ score was good but we could have chased it easily,” said Knight Riders’ Pakistan recruit Umar Gul. “Our batsmen played bad shots and gave away the match,” was how he summed up the defeat.