The Rajasthan Royals posted 162 for five in their British Asian Cup match against Middlesex Panthers as Lord's held its breath for Shane Warne's last appearance at the ground.

England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas was the star of the innings, smashing 32 off 16 balls as last year's Indian Premier League champions produced a solid score in their rain-affected innings.

Dawid Malan plundered two wickets for Middlesex but it was the bowling of Gareth Berg that really kept the Royals on a leash.

Just three overs had elapsed when play stopped for an hour as heavy rain fell on Lord's.

Faiz Fazal hit a towering six off Tyron Henderson as the IPL side moved to 16 without loss and once the interruption 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.

After 10 overs 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 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.