Bhatia and Sangwan star for Delhi

Pradeep Sangwan picked up three wickets to complement Rajat Bhatia's decisive four-wicket haul for Delhi

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Rajat Bhatia and Pradeep Sangwan shared seven wickets as Delhi Daredevils booked their place in the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League with a 12-run win over Deccan Chargers.

Medium-pacer Bhatia claimed 4-15 to hasten a Deccan collapse that saw them lose their last seven wickets in just 17 deliveries.

Adam Gilchrist hit 64 and Andrew Symonds 41 to provide the platform for their pursuit of 174, but they slipped from 149 for threeto 161 all out with two balls unused.

Gilchrist, the former Australia wicketkeeper, and Tirumalsetti Suman gave the Chargers a flying start by taking 18 off the first over, but left-arm seamer Sangwan put a check on things by removing the latter en route to figures of 3-18.

It could have been worse for Deccan in the next over had AB de Villiers not put Gilchrist down at slip off Dirk Nannes, before Rohit Sharma was taken by David Warner off Sangwan.

Gilchrist, though, kept his composure at the other end, racing to his fifty off 24 balls to help Deccan reach the halfway stage on 83 for two.

Sangwan was then reintroduced into the attack by Delhi captain Virender Sehwag and struck immediately after the strategy break when he bowled Gilchrist.

Enter Symonds, Gilchrist’s compatriot, who, along with Dwaraka Ravi Teja put on 63 in just six overs to leave Deccan needing 25 runs off three overs.

But the game was turned on its head thereafter, starting with the dismissal of Teja, caught at fine-leg off Nannes for 27.

Bhatia bowled Symonds and Dwayne Bravo within the space of three deliveries, followed by Nehra claiming two wickets in his next over. That left Deccan needing 19 runs from eight balls, which proved beyond them.

Earlier, it was sensational lower-order hitting from Dinesh Karthik, who smashed 44 from just 23 deliveries, and solid contributions from Tillakaratne Dilshan and de Villiers that helped lift the Daredevils to 173 for seven.

Chaminda Vaas struck early by removing the dangerous Warner for just four, but Deccan did not help their chances when Sharma dropped Dilshan, on eight, at gully off RP Singh.

Sri Lankan Dilshan then climbed into Shoaib Maqsusi, who went for 24 off one over - equalling the record in this competition - before Symonds removed him for 37, made off only 18 balls.

Another costly miss came when Teja dropped de Villiers on the boundary, - he went on to make 44 - but Deccan kept their opponents in check until the final onslaught.

That came in the closing five overs when 64 runs were scored, including 23 off the final over as Karthik prospered at the expense of Vaas, whose figures of 2-52 were the most expensive in the IPL.