Easy win puts Delhi top

Delhi Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir contributed 71 runs to help his side thrash Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets

Stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir hit an unbeaten half-century as Delhi Daredevils handed Kolkata Knight Riders a nine-wicket drubbing, their eighth loss in nine matches in the Indian Premier League.

Gambhir hit an unbeaten 71 and put on 60 runs for the opening wicket with David Warner (35) and 97 for the second wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan (42 not out) as the Daredevils easily chased down the Knight Riders’ total of 154 for three.

Morne van Wyk scored 74 off 48 deliveries for Kolkata, but it was not enough to win this Durban contest.

The Knight Riders then followed their unimpressive batting display with a tardy performance in the field as Gambhir and Warner got the Daredevils’ reply off to a solid start.

They were aided considerably by misfields from Sourav Ganguly and Ashok Dinda, but the costlier lapse was to come from captain Brendon McCullum when he dropped Gambhir while the batsman was on 21.

Ishant Sharma turned in a good first over but Warner put him to the sword by scoring 17 off his next over.

Gambhir had tapped and nudged his way around, playing second fiddle to Warner as the two added 57 in the six powerplay overs.

Ajit Agarkar was then brought on and should have had the wicket of Gambhir, but watched as McCullum put down the sitter.

Pradeep Sangwan aided the Daredevils' cause in the field with 2-29 in four overs

Agarkar, however, found joy when he snared Warner off his next delivery, the Australian batsman mistiming a pull which Moises Henriques held at midwicket.

Gambhir survived another lucky reprieve when he edged a delivery to wicketkeeper Van Wyk while on 45, but was ruled not out by umpire Ian Howell.

Three more catches went down later, but those hardly had a bearing as the Daredevils overhauled the target with an over to spare.

Earlier, Van Wyk, Chris Gayle’s replacement at the top of the order, had paced his innings well, but the Knight Riders finished with a total far less than the 211 Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals had achieved batting first on the same pitch in an earlier match.

The Knight Riders had begun briskly with McCullum hammering 35 off 29 deliveries, his highest score in nine matches.

Gambhir used four bowlers in the first five overs, but Van Wyk and McCullum quickly clubbed them out of the attack.

Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra conceded nine in his first over, while leg-spinner Amit Mishra - who was pressed in at the start of the fourth over - was immediately driven for consecutive boundaries by Van Wyk.

Pradeep Sangwan then broke the partnership, luring McCullum into a pull shot which Nehra comfortably pouched at fine leg.

An out of sorts Brad Hodge was Sangwan’s second victim as the Knight Riders slipped to 98 for two and Van Wyk was finally snared in the last over of the innings, Nehra rattling the stumps as the batsman swung and missed.