Chennai, Apr 16 (IANS): The Delhi Daredevils, thanks to an unbeaten 57 by skipper Gautam Gambhir and his 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Mithun Manhas (25 not out) swept to a six-wicket win against the Chennai Super Kings in a crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) game, here tonight.
Batting first, the Super Kings were pegged to 112 for nine 20 overs while the Daredevils kept their composure despite losing four wickets for 38 as Gambhir guided the side to their seventh win in 13 matches with eight deliveries to spare.
The victory put Daredevils on 14 points and in third place, pushing the Super Kings to fourth. Both teams have a game in hand and a win in the last match should effectively put them in the semi-finals given the positive net run rate.
In a low-scoring match, the bowlers held the upper hand as the Super Kings could not recover from an early collapse and a needless change in the batting order even as the Daredevils bowled extremely well with left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra claiming three wickets and off-spinner Virender Sehwag chipping in with two.
Opting to bat first on winning the toss, the Super Kings lost key wickets of openers Matthew Hayden (1), Murali Vijay (17) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) with just 23 runs on the board and never really recovered from thereon.
In-form batsman Suresh Raina (15), disturbed from his usual No.3 position, barely fired and his exit in the ninth over, followed by Mike Hussey and Albie Morkel in the following, further restricted the Super Kings.
Subramaniam Badrinath (30) was the top scorer for the hosts, but he could not accelerate the scoring rate that was more a leisurely stroll in the park.
In repose, the Daredevils lost the key wickets of openers David Warner, Virender Sehwag and Tillakaratne Dilshan with just six runs on the board.
Next to go was Dinesh Karthik after a brief flourish and the Daredevils were reduced to 38 for four at which stage Gambhir and Manhas got together for a rescue act.
The duo batted sensibly, eschewing risks but not hesitating to put away the bad ball. In the process, both displayed a great degree of patience to fight their way out of the woods to eventual victory.
Gambhir despite suffering from a bout of dehydration in the extremely humid conditions, opened up in the end overs with a series of boundaries to take his team across the finish line.