Rajasthan Royals suffered a setback after local outfit Nashua Cape Cobras defeated them by 27 runs in a T20 practice game.

Even before the Shane Warne-led side could start their title defence in the second Indian Premier League, they suffered this defeat.

Electing to bat first, the Cobras overcame some initial jolts to manage a modest 142 for eight in stipulated 20 overs, before skittling out the Royals for 115 in 19 overs on Saturday at Newlands.

The Royals started on an aggresive note with the opening pace duo of Siddharth Trivedi and Amit Singh dealing early blows removing opener Robin Peterson (1), Andrew Puttick (1) and skipper Justin Ontong (1) in quick succession leaving the home team tottering at 22 for three.

However, other opener Derek Brand held his nerves to score 24 off 23 balls with the help of three boundaries and a huge six, before being dismissed by Royals paceman Singh.

Soon the Royals bowlers started losing their penetration power as the Cobras' crawl their way back with the help of some crucial innings from its middle order.

R Levi sent the ball across the rope for five times, including twice for maximum, enroute his quickfire 36 off just 22 balls, while V Philander (26 off 21) and R Kleinveldt (23 off 17) wield their willows to make crucial contributions.

For Royals, Singh bagged three wickets while legendary Australian spinner Warne, Ravinder Jadeja and Trivedi managed one each.

Chasing the target, Royals batsmen struggled to negotiate the witty deliveries off Cobras' paceman Kleinveldt, who scalped four wickets for just 23 runs and later was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Royals opener R Quiney scored a 22-ball 34, with help of five boundaries and a six, but the rest of the middle order batsmen failed to give him company and fell like a pack of cards in the middle.

Skipper Warne (21) was the only other batsman who crossed the 20-run mark for Rajasthan Royals as they were bundled out in just 75 minutes.

Besides Kleinveldt, Peterson bagged two wickets for 18 runs while G Rabie, Philander and Ontong scalped one each for the South african outfit.