A Shane Watson near-century and a five-wicket haul from fellow Australian James Faulkner helped secure Rajasthan Royals their fifth Indian Premier League win this season.

Watson thrashed 13 boundaries and four sixes to race to 98 not out from just 53 balls, leading the Royals to an eight-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday.

The third-placed Royals were chasing 144 – a modest target kept in check by man-of-the-match Faulkner’s five wickets.

His impressive haul makes him the IPL’s top wicket-taker in 2013 with a total of 16 so far.

Watson, the Royals’ leading run-getter, recorded his 10th half-century at the IPL.

The Sunrisers’ Darren Sammy – who led a lower-order revival – admitted his side had no answer to Watson’s onslaught, praising his “beautiful” batting.

“I think we did a good job by reaching 144 and had chances but Shane Watson batted beautifully and his 98-run unbeaten weighed on us,” Sammy said, according to The Indian Express.

“He is a class player in any form of cricket. He smashed the ball to all parts of ground. We had no answer to his onslaught.

“But I think that our bowlers could have bowled better to him by not providing him the width and length to hit.”