Shane Warne celebrated his last match at Lord's by leading the Rajasthan Royals to a 46-run victory in the British Asian Cup.

Warne drew a large cheer from the 20,000 crowd each time he entered the attack with his solitary breakthrough - a stumping of Dawid Malan - a popular wicket among fans and team-mates.

All the attention may have been focused on Warne but Dimitri Mascarenhas emerged as the star as the Royals posted 162 for five in their rain-affected innings, smashing 32 off 16 balls.

The England all-rounder then took two wickets for just 24 runs as last year's Indian Premier League winners easily dealt with the reigning English Twenty20 champions in the first meeting between sides from the competitions.

Middlesex could only manage 116 for seven in reply, Malan's 34 from as many balls and Neil Dexter's 26 from 24 among their few highlights in a one-sided contest.

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty brightened up a blustery and rain-swept start to proceedings with a lap of the ground, braving the elements while fans hunched beneath umbrellas.

The Royals' co-owner was well received by supporters, but just three overs had elapsed when play stopped and they were forced to seek cover.

Faiz Fazal hit a towering six off Tyron Henderson as the IPL side moved to 16 without loss and once the hour-long interruption for rain had concluded, the 23-year-old gave Steven Finn the same treatment in the next over.

The Royals opener rode his luck on two deliveries in the seventh but his innings of 27 off 22 balls was abruptly halted when he gave Billy Godleman a simple catch as he went for a third six.

Warne leaves poker for cricket

After 10 over the Royals had moved to 74 for one, Swapnil Asnodkar keeping the scoreboard ticking over without doing anything flashy.

Just as Murali Kartik and Shaun Udal appeared to be restricting the Royals, back came Malan who was hit for eight runs by Asnodkar in the first two balls of the 14th over.

But the third cost him his wicket as he mis-hit into the arms of Owais Shah in the deep, concluding an innings of 41 from 40 balls.

With 15 overs gone the Royals started forcing the pace and paid the price as Naman Ojha, caught by Finn off the bowling of Udal, and Justin Langer, bowled by Malan, departed.

But the arrival of Mascarenhas provided the Royals with some late momentum with Mohammad Kaif also making a telling contribution.

With the half-time entertainment having been conducted during the rain break, Middlesex's innings started swiftly and was only three overs old when Godleman was bowled by Sohail Tanvir.

Shah, Godleman's replacement, was soon back in the pavilion after Mascarenhas caught him lbw before accounting for Neil Dexter in the same manner.

Dexter's exit left Middlesex wobbling on 33 for three after seven overs.

Warne entered the attack, conceded six on his first over and just one in his second to push Middlesex's required run rate past the 13 mark.

Any hope of victory was rapidly fading as Eoin Morgan and then Henderson fell, both caught out by slower deliveries by Tanvir.

Warne accounted for Malan but then went for 14 in his fourth over as Middlesex staged a late flurry that petered out when Berg was caught.